


Friendly Pretty Cure!

by SingMeloetta



Category: Precure Fanseries - Fandom, プリキュア | PreCure | Pretty Cure Series
Genre: Friendship, Gen, Inspired by Music, Panic Attacks, Pretty Cure Fan Series
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-18
Updated: 2018-10-06
Packaged: 2018-10-06 22:12:24
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 20
Words: 36,902
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10345623
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SingMeloetta/pseuds/SingMeloetta
Summary: The Friendship Kingdom is the place that is responsible for creating all of the friendship and harmony through the universe, with the help of their own Friendship Pretty Cure. However, when they discover that one of the Pretty Cure is at high risk for being taken by Negative, an evil organization who wants to take over Friendship Kingdom and rid the world of friendship, it's a race against time to defeat Negative.





	1. Grief's Shadows! I'll Transform!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Excited to begin choir at school, middle school student Alana Fuki also gets another surprise when she meets Bobble, and transforms into the legendary Pretty Cure, Cure Sweet!

It was just supposed to be another typical weekday morning for the Nomi household, which, for the daughter of the family, Madoka, would lead to another normal day at South Ridge Middle School.

Except it didn’t turn out that way, because things never turn out normal when you expect them to.

Madoka had been up in her room with her headphones on, listening to one of her hundreds of favorite songs before she had to go to school, when she heard her mother and father knock on her door, opening it slowly. “Madoka? Are you in here?”

“Yeah mom? Wait, why do you look so sad all of a sudden? What’s wrong?” 

Her mother’s eyes and face were bright red and soaked with tears. “Madoka...your Uncle Daichi’s gone.” 

Madoka knew exactly what this meant, but she still froze in shock. “What? No, this wasn’t supposed to happen!” 

Madoka’s father reached over to hug her. “He’s in a better place now, sweetheart.”

The doctors had said that even though the cancer had been spreading quickly, he should have anywhere from months to years left to live. Fate gave him two days; However they were two days that Madoka would never forget. Seeing her lying on a spare mattress on the floor, writhing in pain and coughing his lungs out each time her mother had attempted to spoon-feed her uncle his cocktail of medications.

Her mother had told her that he had died in his sleep, but he died in so much pain, that was it even really fair to call his death peaceful?

“Do you still want to go to school today, sweetheart? You don’t have to if you don’t want to.”

Madoka wiped the small tears from her eyes and shook her head. “I’ll go...it’s only the third day, after all. Wouldn’t want my teachers to think I’m slacking off already, would I?” Madoka managed a small smile. After one last awkward silence, she grabbed her backpack and proceeded to walk out of her house and down the street, head down all the way to the bus stop. Today wasn’t going to be easy, that much was for sure.

* * *

 

As the Nomi family grieved their loss on earth, there was a far away palace that was undergoing another kind of crisis. Bright starlight glimmered through the palace’s stained glass windows, though Queen Harmonia ignored it as she paced around the room in distress. She needed to free Desire, that much was for certain. Still, there was no way she could do it herself -only the 5 Pretty Cure warriors had enough strength to defeat the Negative, and considering one of them was being corrupted as she was sitting here, thinking, the plan didn’t have much time to go into action, whatever she decided it was going to be. “I need to find someone who can help gather up the Pretty Cure. Whoever that may be, I will send them to Earth.” The high-pitched squeaking of her throne room doors opening was enough to make her lose her train of thought. One of her trusted advisors, Bobble, bounced through the room, floating until he was right in front of her. "Queen Harmonia, I have urgent news-bo! One of the Friendship Kingdom's Pretty Cure, Cure Desire, is going to be taken over by the Negative soon-bo! This is urgent-bo!"

A concerned look reappeared on the queen's face, and she pressed her fingertips to her forehead. "I know, I can see it all unfolding from here, but I'm afraid it looks like the Negative's capturing of Desire is too close for anyone other than the Pretty Cure to handle." She sat in the anxious silence of the throne room and gathered her thoughts for a moment, pondering her options carefully before she finally settled on her best bet. "Bobble, If you're up for the task, I want you to go down to Earth and support the Pretty Cure, so we can protect Cure Desire from the Negative. Can you do that for me?" She speaks slowly, her smooth yet serious tone filling Bobble's ears as he played the information back in his mind.  If one of the Pretty Cure of friendship had ever been taken from them by Negative, the power of harmony that the Friendship Kingdom controls would be weakened severely, and the Negative, would be able to overthrow her no problem.

"Yes, your majesty-bo! It would be my honor to be able to assist the Pretty Cure-bo! Anything to defend the throne, your majesty-bo!" 

“It’s more than defending my throne, Bobble. No matter what, we cannot let Desire fall victim to their corruption.”

Bobble nodded and, without saying another word, a light appeared in the fairy's eyes, which grew into a bright flash as he disappeared from the throne room and teleported himself down to Earth in a beam of light. He knew that this task was going to be one of the most difficult things he'd ever have to do, but if it was for the safety of his homeland and the happiness of his queen, then it was more than worth it.

* * *

 

A teenage girl with long honey blonde hair and bright blue eyes was humming a joyful, upbeat tune while on her morning walk to school. Fitting perfectly with her mood, the sky that day was completely cloudless, the last of the summer heat keeping the girl warm as the leaves around her began to change their colors for the year. It was hard not to be optimistic when everything around you was so picture perfect, and Alana knew that she was lucky to live the life that she did.

Her two younger twin sisters were not too far behind her, with their chatter and footsteps being Alana's only reminder that they were there in the first place; Every other sense that she had was focused on how beautiful the morning scenery in front of her was. Alana only stopped and turned to look at her sisters when she had noticed that they had stopped following her, both of them staring down at something on the ground.

"This plush doll is so cute!"

"Yeah! I like the rainbow polka dots on it!"

The two girls caught up and showed the doll to their sister, the toy itself appearing to be some sort of fluffy white alien. As Eri had said before, it was decorated with rows and rows of brightly-colored polka dots along its stomach, the rest of it appearing to be white fuzz with beady black eyes.

"I want to keep it!"

A slight glare appeared across Chihaya's face as soon as her sister had said that. "No, it's mine!"

“Hey! I saw it first, Chihaya, so that means I get to keep it!”

Before Alana could even get a word in, Alana's younger sisters were fighting back and forth over the doll, both of them tugging on it by its arms. Alana couldn't tell if she was seeing things, but it had almost looked like the doll's expression had changed, almost as if though it was actually being hurt by her sisters' rough pulling. "Cut it out you two, or we're gonna be late for school!" Alana sighed, quickly thinking of a solution to their disagreement. "Here, how about I carry the doll with me in my backpack for now, and when you two are both calmer, and then you can decide who gets to keep the doll, okay?"

"Okay." The twins rolled their eyes. Neither of them really liked the decision that their older sister made, but it was better than them being late for school. With no other objections, Alana put the toy in her backpack and continued walking up the street, wanting to return to her perfect day without anymore interruptions.

“Hey Alana!” Takara waved, motioning for Alana to take the seat next to her. Takara had been a newer friend of Alana’s, the two being especially close due to making it into the statewide choir together.

“Hi Takara! Ready to start another year of choir?”

“I’m ready if you are, but watch out, ‘cause I’m ready to take over your position as section leader anytime now!”

Alana smiled, striking back with more of their friendly rival banter. “Hah! Only in your dreams, maybe! That is, if we even end up in the same section again at all.”

“Then I hope we do.”

After the bus had arrived at school that morning, Alana had been the first person in her homeroom class, so the sound of faint talking and rustling coming from her backpack was a surprise. She stayed completely still for a moment, hoping to catch them in the act, but the rustling continued as if nothing had changed. Annoyed, she turned around with a start, ready to give the pesky trickster a good talking to. "Alright can whoever’s doing that please cut it out?"

The doll from earlier had floated out of her backpack out of surprise from the noise, and was currently levitating in mid air. "Heh heh. Sorry for all the noise-bo. I just wanted to say thanks for helping me out earlier-bo!"

Alana blinked, as if to confirm what she was seeing once more before nearly screaming in disbelief. "Bu-but you’re just a doll...How are you doing that? Dolls aren’t even supposed to talk, let alone float! Are you one of those creepy horror movie ghost dolls?” She paused for a moment to try and calm herself down. “What am I getting so worked up over, you're just a doll... but if you really were just a doll, then how are you talking to me?"

"I’ll have you know that I am not just a doll! I am Bobble, ambassador to the Friendship Kingdom and the one that Queen Harmonia made responsible for searching for our legendary warriors, the Friendly Pretty Cure-bo!"

Alana blinked, as if she had to adjust her eyes to what she had just heard. "Pretty Cure?"

“That’s right! Pretty Cure are magical warriors, who can do all sorts of amazing things! I came to you because I sensed that you’re one of the Pretty Cure who can help save my homeland, the Friendship Kingdom!”

“Honestly, do you really think that I’m a magical warrior?”

Bobble wore his most confident smile “I know so-bo! After all, I can sense things like this-bo.” 

“I mean, I’m all up for helping people,” She hesitated describing Bobble, “Or magical alien creature things, but to save an entire kingdom when I’m just your average eighth grader…”

“Alana, I know it’s a lot to take in, but I believe in you-bo! And I know that the queen and the entire kingdom believe in you too!

“Alright, then, knowing that I have an entire kingdom behind me is a little more comforting.”

“And you won’t even be fighting by yourself either! You have four other teammates who are all fighting with you, so you’ll never be alone-bo.”

“Do you know who they are?”

Bobble rubbed the back of his head with his white stub of a hand, letting out a nervous laugh. “Well, I just got to Earth, so to tell you the truth only the queen knows.”

“Wait, so the queen sent you here to find people, but you don’t even know who your supposed to be looking for?”

“The queen works in mysterious ways-bo.”

* * *

 

"Madoka! It's been so long! I missed you so much!" Alana says, reaching out to hug her friend, a wide smile on her face and a fake one on Madoka’s. "I'm so happy we're in the same choir class again, y'know?" 

"Yeah, you too, Alana. I missed you too." Madoka had spaced out, but had been trying her best to fake a smile for the whole day; She’d always been rather good at that skill, acting like nothing was wrong all because she didn't want to trouble Alana or anyone else who was forced to be around her true self. 

If Madoka was forced to be honest with herself, though, she was in much more pain than usual today, and feared that she wouldn’t be able to keep herself together for much longer. Her uncle had passed away suddenly in his sleep the night before. Every time she thought of what had happened before she came to school that morning, she denied its existence, as if though it had all just been some crazy dream and she’d just woken up in the middle of her school building. 

The bell then rang, separating Madoka from her thoughts as she walked into the classroom, which was more like a second home to her than anything. The room was arranged just like she had remembered it, with three rows of about ten black chairs all placed in the center of the room. After her teacher had given his obligatory introduction to all of the students who hadn't been in the school’s choir as second years, they finally got on to what they were there for; singing. "Alright, so I'm just going to listen to you sing a scale, just on ah, and then split you up into one of four voice types; Girls will be sopranos or altos, and boys will be tenors or basses. Takara, Madoka and Alana, you'll go first, okay?" 

Madoka took a deep breath in anticipation. Despite her confidence in her singing voice, she knew that there must have been something going on with her that morning; For a reason that she couldn’t explain, her voice felt stuck in the back of her throat. It was a feeling that she couldn't explain, but she knew that this was not going to make her day any better. As the line moved person-by-person to the other side of her teacher's piano, her heart began to become heavier and heavier, like she was going to burst into tears without any reason. Her mind, however was far on the other end of the spectrum; That is, rushing so fast through so much that she could almost feel a panic attack or a meltdown coming on. She definitely couldn't explain how her body was feeling, but the one thing that she could determine was that she did not enjoy it.

Her teacher played the scale, and she had heard him. They both expected to hear her voice after that, but there was only silence. "Ah, let's try that again, Madoka." He played the scale one more time, but still, there was nothing but the sound of silence from the girl. He shot her a quick worried glance, which she could see from the corner of her eye. "Are you okay, Madoka?"

"I'm alright sir, I must have gotten a little distracted." A third time, her teacher played the scale, but all she could do was shake slightly in place. She hadn't been this terrified of singing in front of other people in a long time, and she was beginning to question her sanity because of it.

"How about we have Alana go in front of you so that you can have a few more seconds, okay?" With that request, she and Alana shifted places in the small line, with Alana, surprisingly being placed as an alto instead of a soprano like she had for all of those years before. Alana’s voice test, of course, went perfectly, as was usual for the things she did. Once more, Madoka's teacher played up the scale, and finally, with a lot of energy and effort, she was able to push the notes out through her throat. "Soprano."

"Thank you, sir." Madoka put on her fake smile once more and walked away from the piano and her teacher at an even shakier pace than was usual for her, relieved to have gotten that terrifying experience over with, even though it had given her brain yet another thing to never let Madoka live down. On the bright side though, she hadn't broken down and cried for two straight classes now, if that was anything for her to celebrate.

As much as Alana had been looking forward to something exciting, The rest of the class passed by smoothly and uneventfully, and the two of them were left to twiddle their thumbs while everyone else finished their voice placements and was put into their new seating formation. As more and more people finished, that gave Alana more and more people to reunite with, and soon she was smiling all over again.

* * *

 

The bell releasing the class to lunch was just about to ring when the room went dark and time froze in most of the room, being covered from wall to wall in shadows and the nearby piano began to morph into some kind of strange monster. Bobble knew at that point that it was the time for him to make his grand entrance. He had only spent half the day with Alana, but the way she carried herself had let him know all he needed; Without a doubt, she was the first Pretty Cure. A pink bracelet materialized in his hand and he floated over to Alana.  "Alana, I know that this is sudden and I know that it may seem weird, but I need you to put on this bracelet and then say the phrase "Pretty Cure! Light of Friends!"

Luckily for Bobble, Alana was the kind to happily take advice from anyone who seemed to be more of an expert than she was, and if the little alien creature in front of her was an expert on fighting magical piano monsters, than that was who she was taking her advice from."Alright, I'll try!" She smiled with confidence, slipping the small pink bracelet onto her wrist. "Pretty Cure! Light of Friends!" A strange pink light then enveloped her body, which felt like it was slowly lifting her off of the ground, even if only by a couple of inches. Things began to happen after that. She could feel herself getting a couple inches taller, her hair getting slightly longer and twisting into a braid, and new clothes beginning to form around her body until she noticed that they were forming a mainly pink outfit. "The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"

"Alright Bobble, so what am I supposed to do with all of this?"

"Try to tire the Kiraino out, and then try attacking it -bo! But don't try to force it, and just let it come naturally to you-bo!" Alana nodded back at Bobble, lunging towards the keyboard with a leap, then jumping off of it once she had landed. "That's Good, Cure Sweet-bo! Now, try to purify it -that is- try to come up with a special magic attack of your own!

"Open to the kindness! Sweetness Shower!" Cure Sweet yelled as if it didn't come from the top of her head at that moment. As a spray of pink hearts fell over the keyboard, the room seemed to go back to normal, including her clothes. The bracelet was still on her wrist and in one piece, Bobble having shrunken himself down to fall asleep on the center of it. Nobody else seemed to have any memories of what had just happened to them, as if Alana had just drifted off into a fantasy. Then again, transforming into a legendary magical warrior and fighting giant monsters with the help of a tiny talking alien wasn’t exactly a daily activity for her, so for all she knew, that had just been a dream.

The rest of the school day went by smoothly and painlessly for Alana, although whenever she looked down towards her wrist for the day she felt a pang of unrealness. If this kept up, she knew that this year was certainly going to be something special.

 

* * *

 

Before she knew it, Alana was walking back home from the bus stop. Alana and her little sisters had all made it home safely, her younger siblings giggling as they rushed into their room and her mother walking into the kitchen with near perfect timing not to miss the oldest of the three. "Hey Alana, how was your day at school?"

"Well, it was kinda crazy." She’d admit that much out loud, even though she would hate if her mother ever found out the details what happened. 

"Did you see any of your friends?"

"Yeah, I was in choir again so I got to talk to all of my choir friends! I saw Madoka too, and she's in my choir class again this year! But still, she looked kind of sad. I hope everything's alright." Alana said as she walked into her bedroom, shutting the door behind her in order to get some privacy. Soon, Bobble popped out of the bracelet, having rested, fully refreshed to take on his fuller form again.

"You did great Alana-bo! Thank you so much for your help-bo! But please, you have to help me and the Friendship Kingdom by fighting for us some more-bo. I'll repay you by telling you our story if you do-bo."

"Well, I may not be that good at the whole magical legendary warrior gig at first, but I know I'll be doing my best!" She gave Bobble a gung-ho grin and a thumbs up. As long as she had Bobble by her side, she at least knew there was a chance of her having the upper hand, or at least learning more about her powers along the way.

"That's the spirit-bo! Anyway, now it's time for me to hold up my side of the bargain. The story of how I got to Earth goes like this. The queen of the realm I’m from, Queen Harmonia, sent me here because one of the Pretty Cure of Friendship was in danger of eventually being controlled by our enemies. Their goal is to sabotage the entirety of the kingdom-bo! And that's a really bad thing, because, if the kingdom gets taken over, all of the friendship on Earth and in the kingdom will be destroyed! You don't want that, do you-bo?"

She only had to think for a second, but those quick thoughts were also deep. Certainly, the fate of everyone's friendships in the entire world was worth fighting some evil monsters for, right? 

“At least I'll hopefully have other Pretty Cure to help me out soon, so fighting won't be so strange.” She gave him a moment to correct her, just in case she was getting her hopes up about having some partners "I will have my friends with me, right?"

Bobble smiled. "Of course! Having you fight alone to defend friendship would kind of make it go against the whole point, wouldn't it?"

Alana was relieved in knowing that there would eventually be someone she could talk to about her crazy experiences. "Do you know any of the other Pretty Cure girls? Like when they're just regular people, I mean?"

"I think that would be better to keep as a secret, but you should find out soon-bo. After all, I wouldn't want to give you so much information that you'd get overwhelmed, which would lead you to quit being a Pretty Cure on me, and let our whole kingdom be destroyed-bo."

"That's...an oddly specific plan to your kingdom's downfall, but I can see your point."

"Good-bo. Now, you need to make sure to always wear this bracelet wherever you go, because you never know when the next baddie is going to show up and you'll need to transform into Cure Sweet again-bo!"

“I promise. Besides, it’s such a cute bracelet that I’m sure I could easily pick out some outfits that go with it, right? Well, anyways, I have to go to school again tomorrow morning, so I better get ready to hit the hay for the night. Goodnight, Bobble."

"Goodnight, Alana-bo." Alana flicked the light switch off, but Bobble's mind couldn't stop racing, thinking about his duty to protect his queen and her kingdom. It was only his first day on Earth and he'd already found one of the Cures, so at least he had that going for him. Still, he focused on the negative. “This isn’t good. We might not have much time left to save Desire, and if we don’t save her in time...I don’t want to think about what will happen then.” 


	2. The blue-colored Courage!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With excitement in her heart, Alana fights for the second time as Cure Sweet, finding a new ally in the second Friendly Pretty Cure, Cure Courage!

Though the sun had barely risen in the sky yet, Kaede was already wide awake and busy, sprinting around the track with her teammates. This year, as a third year at South Ridge, she had a lot of her underclassman to impress so they would consider staying on the team for another year. They had their first meet during the upcoming weekend, meaning that their coach would show no mercy when it came to training.

“Alright, girls, push on, push on! No pressure no diamonds, ladies!” Hearing her coach's words inspired Kaede to go even faster, much to her underclassmen’s amazement. By the time the coach had blown her whistle however, Kaede had hunched over in near defeat, sweat dripping down her face and onto the track below. Still, she smiled in appreciation, and mouthed a wordless thank you as an underclassman handed her her bright blue water bottle. Taking a long drink, she took one last swipe to the last of the sweat on her forehead before finally walking into the school to get changed in her regular clothes for the day.

As they were all dressing out, their coach gave them one last reminder. “Alright girls, remember we meet at 9:00 am Saturday here so we can catch the busses. If your not here, you run to catch up! Now, go hit the showers!”

* * *

 

Later in the morning, as Alana's alarm clock rang, Alana quickly stretched before getting out of bed for the morning. "Hmm... I'm getting so excited, I can hardly wait any longer! I want to meet the other Pretty Cures!" Alana made sure to put on her Bond Bracelet, knowing full well that she would probably forget about it completely if she didn’t do it then. "Today, I have choir again!" Even though what happened yesterday would have made more sense in a dream, she was certain that it had all actually happened. After all, Bobble was still here, currently fast asleep inside the bracelet, and Bobble was the one who had transformed her into a Pretty Cure in the first place, meaning that the previous day’s events must’ve actually happened in real life.

Upon hearing Alana’s voice however, Bobble rubbed his eyes and slowly woke up. "Good morning Alana. It's good that you're liking being a Pretty Cure so far, but I don't want you to jinx it-bo. After all, we are fighting against people who want to get rid of everybody's friendships-bo. And risking that would be very, very bad, for both your world and mine-bo!"

"That's true...Anyways, I don't want to be late! I need to get to school and find more Pretty Cure, after all!"

Alana quickly got ready and rushed downstairs, where her mother was making her family a pancake breakfast. “Good morning, Alana! How’d you sleep?”

“Same as usual, mom. How about you?”

“I slept pretty well, but I had the strangest dream that you or one of your sisters had bought this strange toy home--I think it was some sort of alien doll--”

Alana had completely spaced out by that point until her eyes had wandered over to the clock, which currently read 8:45. “Oh no! We’re going to be late! Chihaya, Eri let’s go!”

Chihaya whined. “Aww, but our pancakes are-”

“Look, would you rather have pancakes or make it to the bus on time?” Chihaya sighed as the three of them walked out the door after saying her daily goodbyes to her mother and father.

Alana and her sisters sprinted towards the bus stop, just narrowly catching up with the bus before it continued down the street towards their school without them, ending with their bus driver giving them a strict talking to about the importance of being on time. She’d looked around to see if she could find Takara again, but once she knew she’d be sitting alone, she whispered into her wrist. "Alright Bobble, it's time to make the Friendship Pretty Cure force grow by four times!"

* * *

 

Little did Alana know that the members of The Negative were all gathered sitting in their hidden manor and carefully watching her every move through their magical mirror, all the while planning their own strategy for their attack of the day. "Did you hear that, Douleur? That foolish Pretty Cure thinks she'll even have a chance of discovering the new Pretty Cure!" Enemie snickered at his rival's plan. "Even if she’s able to, Whatever they do, it will all be a waste of time on their part. From what I can see of her, Desire's hopes and dreams are growing darker and darker day by day." Enemie said as he opened a physical chart of the villaness’s progress as Desire.

"Yes, yes, that’s all true I agree with everything that you're saying, sir. I must say, my darling Dark Desire is coming into her new powers quite nicely. In fact, when she's fully trained, it will be impossible for those Pretty Cure brats to defeat her."

"I want you to forget about the future, for a moment Douleur. We need to find a way to defeat those Pretty Cure now, first of all."

“Yes, yes, sir I agree completely with everything that you’re saying. You can leave it in my care me to stop them this time, sir."

* * *

 

Meanwhile, at South Ridge Middle School Alana was now sitting in her choir block, and, since it was the middle of the day, they were all heading to the cafeteria for lunch. "Oh! Madoka, you'll never guess what happened to me last class! Or, did you already see it?" Alana smiled as she sat down in her usual spot, across the table from Madoka. Her heart was racing, and she would do anything to find another Pretty Cure partner. The thought of her fellow Pretty Cure being anyone that she knew excited her- it was a mystery because she knew a lot of people, but it was also fun, because she'd get to know them even better than before, and that's what a true friendship was all about in her mind.

"What was it, Alana? You seem excited to tell me, though, so I bet it's something good." Despite all of the positive connotations that usually came when a person said something along those lines, Madoka's face was still void of any noticeable happiness. Her eyes, while considerably less puffy than the day before, seemed to be stuck looking towards one thing, and her mouth definitely didn't form a smile.

Madoka's vision was soon sidetracked by a white sphere that had somehow bounced out of Alana's bracelet. "Ah, Alana, I think one of the beads fell off of your bracelet just now, let me get it."

"Nope, I'm not a bead from a bracelet, but I am Bobble-bo!"

"Bobble, this is my friend Madoka! She loves singing just as much, maybe even more than I do!" Madoka fought off the urge to give Alana an ice-cold glare as she muttered under her breath. “Of course, I love singing more than you do. After all, I don't take it for granted.”

"It's nice to meet-" Bobble, noticing Alana's dark-haired friend, quickly retreated back into the Bond Bracelet. Bobble knew what Madoka's true identity was, and there was a high chance that this wasn't going to turn out well for either of the parties who were involved. He was sure that Alana was right and that Madoka was usually a very sweet girl, but maybe that was when she wasn’t under the controlling influence of a thousand-year-old darkness.

"Alright, now I know for a fact that’s not normal for him. Bobble, will you please tell me what's wrong?”

Bobble whispered, trying not to attract attention to either of them as they crouched under the cafeteria table. “I’m really sorry, Alana, but something about Madoka just makes me really nervous.”

“There’s no reason to be nervous, Bobble! Madoka is really nice and I think you'll love her, so please come back out." Alana was concerned about her new friend now. Just yesterday, he had been so open, outgoing and friendly, but now he was hiding back in her bracelet?

"No, it's not that I'm nervous-bo, I mean, I'll tell you later-bo!" He said, before curling back up and going back into Alana's bracelet.

"I'm really sorry, Madoka, I don't know why he started acting like that all of a sudden. He was super friendly before, I promise."

"It's alright, Alana. Sometimes people get nervous in front of new faces, it happens. Although I swear I've seen someone- or is it more of a something? Anyways, that thing was like Bobble, I think. Or maybe I'd be thinking of seeing something else? When I saw him, it was a pretty long time ago..."

"Hmm... well, Bobble told me he just came down to Earth for the first time yesterday morning, so I guess that you are thinking of something else."

As they thought to themselves about the mysteries surrounding Bobble and his reaction to Madoka, Alana noticed another one of their friends, Kaede, coming over to their table. "Kaede! Over here!" Alana waved her hands around, giving Kaede a signal to meet them at their favorite lunch table.

"Sorry I'm late, you two. I just felt like I needed to get a few more shots in during Gym class, is all." Kaede’s face was bright red, and she was sweating so hard that she looked as if though she risked collapsing at any moment, but she had clearly enjoyed herself, and to Alana that was all that mattered.

"That's alright, Kaede! We know how passionate our future sports star is when it comes to doing what she loves the most!" Alana kept on smiling and being her typical positive self, remaining blissfully unaware of the fact that Madoka's expression had suddenly changed into one of anger and distrust.

* * *

 

Alana's laughter was soon after interrupted by the fact that the whole cafeteria had been engrossed in the familiar murky purple shadows from the last time a Kiraino attacked their school. But Kaede, for some reason, was still standing with Alana, having been spared from the shadow’s time freezing effects. The reason became clear when a blue Bond Bracelet shined onto Kaede's wrist. "Alana, look! We have matching bracelets now!"

Alana sighed in disbelief, then shook her head. She loved Kaede, she really did, but sometimes, she thought that girl could never get a hold of the big picture if her life depended on it. Which now, in an ironic twist, it actually did.

"Kaede, I know you might think that I've gone bananas when I tell you all of this, but I need you to press the silver button on the bracelet and say "Light of Friends Pretty Cure!" I'll do it with you, okay?"

Kaede, completely unaware of what Alana was trying to drag her into, did as she said. She could then see herself glowing blue energy, her appearance changing drastically. "Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!"

"Courage, do what your coaches tell you to do in soccer! Attack the ball, and then try to let out all of your power!"

Cure Courage nodded back at Sweet and took off dashing towards the ball at her highest speed. She had noticed she had gotten a lot more light on her feet than she last remembered, seemingly being on top of the ball in the blink of an eye. After she had struck the ball with a kick, she decided to finally come up with an attack, like Alana had suggested.

"Alright! Now to show you what a courageous heart can really unleash! Pretty Cure! Courageous Thunder!" With her incantation completed, Cure Courage had released a bolt of light blue lightning from her hands, which she had folded into the shape of an open triangle. The lightning stunned the ball, which shrunk it down back to its original size and removed its piercing yellow gaze.

She was tired from the battle, but Alana’s eyes glistened with joy when she realized that she’s completed her goal. "Well, it looks I found another Pretty Cure partner! You looked so cool as Cure Courage, Kaede."

"Well, I mean, frills and ribbons aren't exactly my preferred style, but the fighting was pretty cool! Speaking of fighting, how did I get these magic powers anyway? Are you some sort of wizard now, Alana?"

"Hey Bobble, now that Kaede is an official Pretty Cure, how about you tell her the story of why this is happening?"

"Will do, Alana-bo!” Bobble’s stomach growled, and he covered it in embarrassment. I'll tell her right after I can get something to eat! I don't know about you girls, but my hunger is killing me!"


	3. Shining Yellow Wisdom!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The third cure is the smartest girl in class! Chika Amagawa always studies to perfection, so, what happens when she discovers that she's a Pretty Cure?

Alana scratched at her paper, her once brand new eraser tip on the verge of being non-existent. “Ugh, I don't get any of this at all! Chika, I don’t understand how you can do all of this math so perfectly! And it’s like you don't even have to spend a minute on one problem.”

“You know Alana, I could help you if you want.” Chika smiled, knowing exactly what Alana wanted.

Alana reached over to hug her friend in gratitude. “Oh my goodness, Chika, you’re a lifesaver! Thank you thank you thank you!”  
  
“Alright, let me take a look here.” Chika took one glance at Alana's paper and started erasing numbers, instantly recognizing the problem. “Alana, you have the numbers switched around, order matters here.”

  
She looked at her paper, not quite understanding what Chika had meant until a few moments later, when everything began to click together in her head. “Oh...oh! So I guess that was my problem all along! Thanks, Chika!” Alana smiled as she erased the wrong answers from her paper.

  
“No problem, Alana. By the way, it looks like your second answer’s wrong too...” Alana gave a defeated look and grunted at this a little in defeat, but Chika smiled and tried her best to cheer up her discouraged friend.   
  
“Thanks again for your help, Chika!” Once more Alana flipped her pencil upside down, erasing yet another wrong answer.

  
“Hey, Chika, you’ll never be able to guess what Kaede and I did the other day!”   
Chika sighed, preparing for the most illogical thing to come from Alana’s mouth. Kaede was her best friend, and had been since kindergarten, but if her plans were anything nearly as wild as her fashion sense, well then, she was in for quite the wild story.

  
"So the other day, I met this little alien and..."

  
Chika's train of thought had already trailed off into her own little world by then, completely blocking it out as some dream she’d had last night and remembered as a memory, and she was just about to start working on another problem, but she couldn't ignore the fact that something, a little white bead from what looked to be Alana's new bracelet, was beginning to vibrate on Alana's wrist.   
  
Bobble had hopped out of Alana's bracelet again, getting ready to greet the intelligent girl. "Hello Chika-bo! My name is Bobble, and I'm pleased to announce to you that you are one of the legendary warriors, the Friendship Kingdom's Pretty Cure!"

  
"I'm sorry, you’re telling me that I'm now a Pretty what?" She blinked, squinting down at the little white alien who had tried to start a conversation with her. By this point, she was almost certain that she had began to see things.

  
"You’ve been spotted as a Pretty Cure-bo! One of the Friendship Kingdom's greatest allies and the warriors of friendship-bo! You’re one of the chosen ones selected to defeat The Negative-bo!"   
  
All Chika could manage to do for about a minute straight was stare back down at Bobble in a stupor, trying to pull herself back together as quickly as possible, yet still having an understandable motormouth reaction. "Alana, you're seeing this too, right? Why did this crazy fairy thing choose me exactly, I mean come on, magical witches don't even exist, and even if they are somehow out there, I for one don't believe in them, so why did you come to me, you little pixie alien creature? Or am I just freaking out? Alana, why did you show me this?"

  
"First off, yup, Bobble is definitely a one-hundred-percent real creature! And you shouldn't be afraid of him anyway, because he's really friendly, and all he wants to do is help you and defend all of the friendship in the world from an evil, centuries old darkness. Chika, please, I need you to calm down and at least give Bobble a chance."

"Well, If you say so Alana, then I guess I can play along with your little fantasy game for now."  
  
"Well, I mean, it’s not a game, but that's good, because I can sense the darkness creeping up on us right now-bo!" As Bobble had predicted, the girls’ math classroom was soon covered in shadows, with a tall cloaked figure, who seemed to be somehow made of darkness, breaking apart from the rest of the bleak background. The sudden appearance of mysterious man caused everyone, even Chika herself, to ignore the bright yellow bracelet which had suddenly manifested on her wrist.   
  
Cure Sweet let her arms automatically go into defensive mode, guarding Chika and her desk without giving it a second thought. "Who are you, and why are you here, what do you want?"   
  
Bobble gulped, while at the same time holding a glare in his eyes. He could the recognize cloaked figure from anywhere; This was the leader of the Negative himself, Enemie. This was the person who had brought his queen and her kingdom into despair for his own selfish reasons.   
  
"Alana, do me a favor and teach Chika the ropes, if you can remember them-bo. I need to have a talk with Enemie." The girl nodded at their alien mascot as he floated over to the shadow-covered man. Though Bobble did his best to make himself look as intimidating as possible, the chubby polka dot covered alien was no match against the much larger commander of darkness.

"Tell me this, Bobble. If you’re supposed to be Queen Harmonia’s second-in-command, Why do you need them, the beginners, to teach each other? Are you no longer strong enough to fight me off and do your job?”

  
Soon, Chika had followed Alana’s instructions, tapping on her new bracelet, saying the transformation phrase and transforming into Cure Wisdom, her hair and eyes turning a matching shade of bright yellow. "Time can heal many wounds, just open up your heart! Cure Wisdom!"

  
Bobble, however, was too engaged in his spat with Enemie to have even noticed Chika’s transformation out of the corner of his eye. “Now, tell me, Enemie, why did you even come here in the first place?"   


"I'm here to give you a little update on the Negative's progress, crush your Pretty Cure's spirits if you will. We now have full access to Cure Desire, and she's even being corrupted by Douleur as we speak! So, that means if you or the kingdom ever want to see Desire again,  you'll have to go through all of us."  
  
"You don't have her yet-bo! Just you wait, the Pretty Cure will be able to save Desire from the clutches of you any time at all-bo!"   
  
"Oh, is that so? Well then, I suppose that fight should be quite the interesting matchup of quality over quantity, your weak band of beginners against Desire, who, by the time these Pretty Cure can fight her, will probably be the strongest at Negative! Oh, I just can't wait until we have our very own corrupted Pretty Cure. And the fact that she's said to be the most secretive of all of her warriors... Oh, just thinking about the possibilities makes me just so... excited to finally get her on our side."   
  
Before he let himself dissipate into a cloud of smoke, he remembered to snap his fingers, making sure to give the Pretty Cure something to fight before he left; A Kiraino made out of a piece of chalk had begun to blow white dust into the girls’ eyes.

After Cure Sweet had shown off her attacks to Wisdom in an attempt to inspire her to come up with an attack of her own, Wisdom got into her fighting position and yelled, "Pretty Cure! Wisdom Charge!" They could all make out a large yellow clock that has been swirling behind her and was now piercing the chalk with its brightly lemon colored handles.  
  
The arrows forced the Kiraino to retreat, it then splitting up into small bits and jelly-like chunks as it fled the classroom with the chalk shrinking down closer and closer to its original size and shape. After that, as Chika let out a sigh of relief, things began to go back to normal in the classroom.

“Wait, what? How did you guys beat that monster so quickly?”

“Well, I mean, it was just a piece of chalk.”

“Yeah. As much as I don’t want to believe that any of this has actually happened and I’m probably still asleep, I have to admit that wasn't actually wasn’t too difficult!" For what was the first time that day in Bobble's mind, Chika gave him a small smile. That meant they were making progress, and any progress -no matter how small- was good in Bobble's eyes. 

  
"Well, Chika-bo? Will you keep fighting with us and become a Pretty Cure-bo?" Bobble pleaded, his eyes starting to shine with fake tears as he also started pretending to cross his none existent fingers.   
  
"If it's really that important, even though it still is making absolutely no sense to me, I guess I could help you." Chika sighed, feeling slightly defeated, yet very exhausted. This made absolutely no sense, but if that was true, then how could it be happening right now, right in front of her eyes? She was, however, looking forward to getting closer to her friends, who, despite her disbelief in the whole idea of them having magical powers, were also Pretty Cure.   
  
"Yes-bo! Alright, girls, we have 3 out of five of the Pretty Cure now-bo!"   
  
"Here's to finding all the rest!" There was a high five between  Chika and Alana before Chika nodded. "Yeah...Let's find them all!"


	4. Orange Smiling! Cure Laugh!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Known to her friends as someone who can always put a smile on your face, Shion Tsubasa is revealed to be the 4th Friendly Pretty Cure!

"Oh my god, Internet, what are you doing?" Shion always looked at the videos she had saved on her phone before class hours started, as it has seemingly become some sort of ritual to have her and some of the members of her friendship circle to all gather in a corner in the hallway before the first bell rang and just do whatever they wanted. For Shion though, that time during her early morning sessions was spent watching the latest internet trends that had exploded overnight. "Oh my goodness gracious, what would I ever do without you, internet? What would I do without you?" Shion sighed, cooling off from her latest fit of laughter.   
  
"Good morning Shion!" Alana skipped down the hall as she greeted her shorter friend, soon taking a peek over her shoulder."Whatcha lookin' at?"   
  
"Oh, y'know, the same jokes as always, you wouldn't be interested in them. They're usually all trashy jokes anyway... Just like me!" 

Though Shion laughed at herself, Alana looked at her concerned. They had done this exact same routine before, and yet it always managed to hurt Alana somehow. "Shion, how many times do I have to tell you that you're not trashy. You're beautiful!"   
  
"That's what they all say!" Shion began to tease herself again as the bell rang, signaling their transition to their first class of the school day. Alana wouldn't see Shion again until lunchtime, but she knew that Shion really needed to stop beating herself up like that. Shion was Alana’s friend, and she was worth so much more than she thought. In fact, Shion was the only thing Alana could think of that whole afternoon until lunch came around for the and Alana grabbed a seat at Shion's table.   
  
"I think I know something that'll cheer you up, Shion. This is Bobble, a little... alien thing that I met the other day. He lives in this cute bracelet!"   
  
"Whoa. That’s...neat. Pretty weird, also kinda cute in a way, but still neat! Are you sure it's okay that you're showing him to me though? I wouldn't want you to get in trouble for bringing your toy to school."   
  
"I am not a toy-bo! I am the messenger of the Friendship Kingdom, Bobble-bo! And you, Shion Tsubasa, are one of the legendary warriors destined to save my kingdom, The Friendship Kingdom, to be exact, from being destroyed-bo!"   
  
"It can talk too?" Shion looked back at her blonde friend, then back down at the little white alien, who was now trying to get her to focus on their conversation.   
  
"Of course I can talk-bo! Although there's no time to get super in-depth now, 'cause I can feel the darkness of the Negative creeping closer-bo! Alana! You have to teach Shion how to transform, and quickly-bo!"   
  
As if though Bobble could predict the future, a nearby cell phone grew at least 20 feet taller and came to life wearing a warped, evil expression with glowing and menacing yellow eyes while the space inside the cafeteria turned dreary and dark.   
  
As it had during their past fights, an orange friendship bracelet appeared wrapped around Shion's wrist, and Bobble flew over to activate it. "Now tap the button where Bobble was and say "Pretty Cure! Light of Friends!" Shion looked at her, skeptically. She already thought she was a lunatic, there was no way she was letting that be known in front of the whole cafeteria. Alana gave her a smile, letting her know that she wasn't alone, and there was no need to worry. "Don't worry, I'll do it with you, Shion!"   
  
Saying it together in unison, Shion was soon made over to have bright orange hair, with her eyes flickering towards a scarlet color. "Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!"   
  
"Now, let's start attacking it!" Sweet grabbed Laugh's hand as they raced towards the phone together and began to punch and kick their way through it. "Alright, it looks like it's been stunned, come up with a move to finish it off!" Nodding back at Sweet, Laugh ran closer to the phone, then planned her attack. "Bursting out with laughter and happiness! Pretty Cure Laugh Burst!"   
  
A bright orange ripple effect rid the phone of the Kiraino's effects as the cafeteria's lighting went back to normal, and conversations went back to buzzing around the room like there hadn't even been a moment’s pause.

  
"Well, you're clearly good enough to fight off evil cellphone monsters, so, now do you think you're a beautiful, lovely person with tons of friends like you really are?"   
  
"Hmm... well, if goes the way I know it will, I'm going to be the worst superhero in the history of the planet's existence, so... nah, probably not."   
  
Bobble floated up high enough to make eye contact with the dark haired girl, levitating in place until they were able to completely lock eyes with one another. "Shion, we need you to think seriously here-bo. I want you to keep fighting alongside the other Pretty Cures to save our kingdom-bo. We only have a chance to stop the Negative if all four of the Pretty Cure are together-bo! So please, will you keep on transforming into a Pretty Cure?"   
  
"Well, it doesn't sound like I really have a say in the matter, so, sure I guess." Shion shrugged, with the smallest hint of a smile tracing her lips.   
  
"Wait a minute. Bobble, I thought you told me that there was five Pretty Cure on the team in total. What ever happened to the fifth one?" Alana looked down at the small creature, concerned and confused for the fate of her unknown teammate.   
  
"Well, it's just that I don't know what's going to happen to Desire because they're-The Negative, I mean, they're way too close to her for me to sense what's going on in her heart," Bobble whispered, careful to not get any more of Alana's focus.   
  
"What was that?"   
  
"Nothing. I mean, I'll tell you when we get home." Bobble sighed, then went back to watching the Cure talk over lunch about all the things that normal teenage girls usually talked about. Bobble knew that For now at least, everything was going to be okay for the Cures.

“Everything is going to be okay,” He repeated to himself in a whispered tone. “And for now, that’s all that matters.”


	5. Violet Secrets and Dark Flames

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> With a lesson in corruption taught by Douleur, the whereabouts of the Friendly Pretty Cure's own fifth member, Cure Desire, are suddenly revealed!

As soon as she rushed through her front door to her house after school, Alana couldn't be bothered to be stopped from running into her bedroom for any reason; Right now, she needed privacy more than anything else. She always knew Bobble had to keep secrets from her sometimes, like most people did, but it had never gotten this out of hand before. “Bobble. Tell me what you know about the fifth Pretty Cure. Now.” An almost evil looking glare was spread across Alana’s face, which they both knew was an unnatural expression for her, but it was enough to get Bobble to cower back in fear and obey her orders.   
  
“Cure Desire is in horrific, terrible, horrible, danger!-bo Cure Desire's heart has already been locked away by the Negative. As of right now, they’re already training her to serve them, and chances are by the time we’re strong enough to reach her and fend off from the rest of the Negative … She’ll have already been completely corrupted-bo.” As Bobble caught his breath, he waited for Alana’s reaction to settle on her face.   
  


“What do you mean she’s corrupted? She’s not a robot, is she?”

“Well no, of course not. Corruption is when-”

Without warning, Alana’s room went dark, and they could both hear the voice of Enemie’s right-hand minion cackling through the air, turning towards a fighting stance just in case. “How about I show her first-hand corruption, Bobble? It’ll spare you the trouble of teaching, because I know that doesn’t seem like one of your favorite things to do.”   
  
“Absolutely not. You’ve already devastated the queen enough by taking Desire. Sweet’s not going anywhere, especially not into your hands.” Bobble had a sudden, stern tone, having floated up to Douleur’s face in between his arrival and then.   
  
Doleur chuckled as he flicked Bobble back down on the table using only his fingers. “And why can't I? I'm only trying to make your job of teaching your Cures the ropes a little bit easier for you. Oh Bobble, of course I’m not just going to take Cure Sweet like that. That would make this whole game that we have going on here a lot less fun, don’t you agree?”   
  
Bobble pushed himself back onto his feet, and Douleur pushing him clearly only made his anger worse. “Is this all that is to you, Douleur? Some sort of silly little game? Well, sometimes, you lose games as well, and I must say, you’ve certainly lost this one.”    
  
“I’m afraid you’ve been mistaken! You see, I haven’t lost our game yet, as I still have my best card with me: my wild card! I’d be happy to show it to you, I must say Cure Desire is probably my proudest work.” With a snap of his fingers, the group had been transported to a place that they had all grown accustomed too ever since Alana had started transforming; The shadow dimension, where the Kirainos were all summoned. “Now, to start our lesson on the corruption of the Friendship Kingdom’s Pretty Cure, you may be wondering Douleur, just how did The Negative get their hands on Cure Desire anyway? Well, I’m glad you asked because that’s one of my new favorite stories to tell! In fact, we first got Cure Desire over to our side thanks to you, Cure Sweet!

  
Alana’s eyes widened in horror, her teeth biting down instinctively at the same time as her fist clenched. “That’s a total lie! Why on earth would I ever decide to help you out?”   
  
“Well, it wasn’t really your decision...We just saw how much you drove Desire up a wall, and so we all agreed to use her bottled up emotions to our own benefit. While another one of us, Envie to be precise, drew her into us by using her jealousy, it was I gladly took her under my tutelage so we could finally make her one of us officially. And for that, I really must thank you! You saved us so many extra steps.” Alana was stunned into silence at his revelation, sure that he had been lying. She had really gotten Cure Desire to be jealous, apparently, but how was that even possible if they didn’t even know each other? “Alright, and with that, today’s class has been dismissed!” The shadows that were taking up Alana's room faded, but Douleur was still floating.Douleur put his hand on his chin, trying to think of the best way possible for the pink cure to suffer in a fight. “Idea! Dark Desire can’t conjure up her own Kirainos yet, but I do have an idea that’ll hit really you close to home; I bet that I could have her defeat you using only her own powers of darkness! How does that sound, Cure Sweet?”   
  
“I’ll take you on, no matter what! I'll do anything, as long as Cure Desire is freed from you guys!”   
  
“It’s a deal then!” He turned around, having sliced open a bright purple portal and was now calling out to someone. “Desire dahling, it’s time for your debut!” Following him through the portal was a girl who looked to be around Alana’s age, with heather-colored hair, dyed to be black at the ends, as well as sleep deprived eyes that were a deep shade of purple, which looked to be frozen towards a single, intimidating expression.   
  
Seeing that Desire was ready to fight her, Alana tapped on her Bond Bracelet and began her transformation, standing tall and at the ready as her Pretty Cure outfit formed around her. “The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!”   
  
With only the slight lift of a hand, a shot of darkness was speeding forward out of her gloves, leaving Cure Sweet to be tied up in it, now unable to move. Desire didn’t flinch at Cure Sweet’s wavering expression instead creating a chrysalis of bright purple fire around the other Cure. All Cure Sweet could feel now was an immense, burning pressure all over her body, and all she could see was black flames being covered with even darker smoke, as if though she was somehow being drowned in flames. On the outside of Cure Sweet’s new cocoon, Bobble looked on in horror, while Douluer was concentrated on Dark Desire’s eyes.

After a moment, he touched his fingers to his chin before speaking again. “Oh, Desire darling, from the looks of it, we need to stop, because you need to get more rest. We absolutely wouldn’t want to have you break, now would we?" Only at Douleur’s advice did the dusty purple-wearing Cure let up her barrage of fire, bringing the inferno that she made down with her as she and Douluer retreated back through the portal. The darkness around her also faded away, and Alana was returned to her room. 

Alana, though still in shock from the sheer strength of the corrupted cure, was able to gather her thoughts. “So, that was the real Cure Desire, huh?”  
  
“Yeah, it really was her alright. I could still sense a little bit of the original spirit of Desire in her, somehow, but she’s been changed while she’s been kidnapped by the Negative, and it definitely hasn’t been for the better."  
  
Alana frowned as she reflected on how she felt about this. She was sad, worried and confused, as she bit her lip, which was twisted into a frown. She only spoke again when she thought of something reassuring to tell herself. “Still, I want to try and save her with the others too! Like you said, there’s still a little bit of the original Desire in there, and even though I don’t know who she is just yet or how to find her, as long as she’s still a Pretty Cure, even just a tiny bit, she’s still our friend!”  
  
I’m glad that you still have your hopes up about bringing Desire back, even after how strong she looked with the Negative, but I’m going to tell you the one thing right now that I know is for certain: Purifying her and getting her to come back to our side won’t be an easy task.’”  
  
  
  
Alana paused again, until she thought of another positive thing. “As long as she’s out there, there’s still hope…I know that’s for sure too!”


	6. Panic! Autumn Audition

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The first major choir audition of the year, the All-District Honor Choir, is today! Everyone is nervous, of course, but what happens, when Madoka unexpectedly freezes up?

It took much too long of an awkward silence-filled car ride to get there, but Madoka had survived; She’d been waiting for the day all year, and although she’d been slacking off lately, Douleur had told her to hope for a miracle.

This was going to be the school where she would audition for the District Honor Choir, her first big audition of the school year. "Alright, Madoka, you can do this! I believe in you sweetheart!" Madoka's hands trembled as she gripped onto the handle of the car door, a part of her not wanting to let go. "Thanks for getting me here on time, dad." She kissed her father on the cheek, then turned to the school's entrance as he drove away.   
  
As she walked through the halls and took her place with her back against the wall where a group of her fellow sopranos were lined up, she whispered a pep talk to herself, taking deep, slow breaths to calm her racing pulse. "Alright, Madoka, you'll do fine, besides, this is something you've handled before. If you could do it last year and succeed, you can do it again!"

_ Then again... _ Madoka thought, stopping herself from getting her hopes up.  _ This time last year, I actually cared. _   
  
She was suddenly turned towards the door to the audition room by one of the audition's runners, and she could feel her heart rapidly drop in her chest at that very moment. They weren't supposed to go ahead early, and she had thought they’d at least have the common decency to let them know ahead of time.

As much as she would've liked to deny what was going on right in front of her, she was forced to realize the truth as she heard the judge welcome her from behind the small, blue curtain that was keeping them separated, saying that they’d be starting with the sight-singing portion, then moving onto the prepared piece.   
  
From the darkness of the Negative Manor, Douleur smiled as he looked down at her from the magic mirror. As much as he had grown attached to Madoka and hearing her ramble on and on about this audition for weeks on end, he had to make her fail; He knew this was all apart of the plan plan, and if they succeeded, was going to be the last straw in luring her over to there side, and then he would have Madoka all to himself.     
  
Looking down at the notes and lines that were printed on the paper which sat on the music stand, Madoka's heart began to race even faster than it had been before, especially once she came upon the realization that she had no idea what she was reading. It had all been blurred together by the time her practice time was up, though, both literally and in the view of her mind, and so all she could muster in return was a series of slowly croaked notes that refused to flow together and pitches that were all up and down the scale.   
  
_ Just keep going, Madoka. Maybe your song will be able to turn everything around.  _ She paused in between the two sections where the judges needed to write and give her their scores, taking a breath while trying and struggling to trick herself into thinking that everything was still fine. However, her positive thinking did next to nothing to improve her song, as it was obvious that she still choked and struggled her way through the whole song, trying to hold back the oncoming yet inevitable tears that tensed her vocal chords and blurred her vision, even for a little while longer.   
  
The pure, bright and beautiful   
Which makes a young heart race   
The impulses which create a wordless wish   
The streams of love and truth   
The longing after something's lost   
The yearning tears that lie inside everyone   
Striving after the light of better hope   
This is why true friendships never die   
  
Even mere seconds after it had ended, she couldn't remember the tail end of her audition, as nothing was on her mind other than getting out of there as quickly as possible and saving herself from any more misery. After sending an urgent text to her father to come pick her up as soon as humanly possible, she looked out into the near-empty parking lot and slumped herself against one of the brick walls of the school and attempted to cry out her feelings, but to no avail.

As if fate wanted to rub salt into the wound, Alana eventually came walking through the building to. Unlike herself, there wasn’t a doubt in her mind that Alana would pass her audition; After all, she was little miss perfect.   
  
"How do you feel now, Madoka?" Douleur's voice crept into her ears, and she considered ignoring him and staying silent before finally whispering something, though even that was slightly inaudible thanks to her tears.   
  
"That whole audition was awful. I can already figure out that I got rejected, but worst of all, what am I gonna tell my parents? Hey, your daughter who was in a state-wide choir last year isn't even good enough represent her district now, sorry for wasting that ten dollar audition fee and that I'm now the biggest disappointment you know?"   
  
"What did I tell you about caring, darling? Caring about anything is a waste of time unless you want to get your heart broken. Now then, it looks like your father's coming. We'll continue this little chat at your house, okay dearest?" With that, Douleur disappeared for the half-hour ride back to her house, until Madoka found herself heading upstairs to her room to find some solitude, and to curl up into the fetal position and cry for a while.   
  
Unfortunately, she was able to do none of those things, Douleur reappearing by her side as soon as she come through her door. "Now, as I was saying before, caring about things is useless, but it seems like it's necessary to be a normal human."   
  
"People do like it when you have passions, and my choir mates all know that my passion is in the music I sing."   
  
"Let me tell you something though, Madoka. You aren't a normal human, from what I've noticed. You've been singing for far longer than most of the other people there, right?"   
  
"I guess that could be true. I've loved music since I was in kindergarten, and I've never given up on my dream since then."   
  
"Ah, but on that note, choir can't be your passion or your dream anymore. After all, you just had a panic attack at your big audition, and doesn't it just feel like you would do anything to get away from it all? Like your passion had betrayed you?"   
  
"That's true, it feels like it hurts now, but who knows? Maybe a miracle happened and I did make it in after all!"   
  
In his mind, Douleur scoffed. Thinking like this was definitely what got her chosen to be a Pretty Cure, but it was his job to get rid of it. "You're allowed to think what you want, dear, but if it hurts, you know I'll be there right away to talk to you."   
  
"Thank you, Douleur."   
  
Two weeks passed by before the results could be announced, and Madoka hadn't gotten a good night sleep since then. One day, there her choir director was on the morning announcements, reading off the names of all of the students who passed the audition. Madoka's head was bowed into a prayer, desperately hoping for some work and a miracle. Forty names were read off of that list, and not one of them were her's.   
  
The realization set off moments later and she felt her head thump on her desk as she struggled for oxygen. Please god, no, don't let this be happening, don't let this happen, I don't want to die! She let herself beg, as she had already fallen so far in such a short time anyway that there was now no point to keeping up her image, one which she had worked for years to maintain. None of that mattered anymore, and the thought of that made her break down.   
  
She had put up a quiet hand to be excused from the classroom and was now hiding in one of the restroom stalls, waiting for this second panic attack to pass. She was not leaving the stall until she knew for sure she could breathe again. When she was ready, Douleur was by her side talking to her comfortingly. "It's alright, dear. I knew it would hurt, but I know something we can do to make all this pain go away. Like I said before, it’s all because you care about things that leads you to feel all of this hurt afterward. So, you just need to stop caring about life altogether; Take the easy way out of your problem.” Madoka looked up at him, slightly confused and still unwilling to go along with his suggestions.   
  
"Let's put it this way, Madoka. Your friends aren't really your friends anymore, really. They left you alone in your despair down at the bottom, and they're all going to keep climbing and growing until you're nothing but a forgotten memory to them. Now, is that really what you want? As for your music, the chances are so low that anyone will ever admire you for it, that is it really worth all that passion and effort? On top of all that, life is just so much easier when nothing bothers you, because you don't care about any of it. Now, doesn't that sound nice, Madoka?"   
  
Any of the signs of life she once had in her eyes slowly faded as she repeated the keywords of his speech back to Douleur. "I don't want to hurt anymore...I don't want to care about anything anymore..."   
  
“That’s my girl! Now Dark Desire, I want you to transform, once and for all!”   
  
At his command, a black bracelet wrapped itself around her wrist. When she tapped the dull, grey button, She could feel herself being covered in a darkness, but somehow, this felt stronger than before. When she came out of the transformation, her eyes had turned a blood red color, her costume going from the faded purple colors to a full-on monochrome palette.   
  
"Desires darkened in the moon's shadows." She let the dark grin that felt so natural to her now slide over her face. "My name is Dark Desire."


	7. Envie, Emissary of Jealous Feelings! Recover the Memory Charms!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Negative brings out it's top Kiraino-maker, Envie, to start hiding away something very important: The Memory Charms!

“Envie!” The grand, booming voice of Enemie roared through the old, abandoned house in the middle of nowhere that The Negative had called their own since they came to Earth.   
  
“Yes, sir?” Enimie walked in from a nearby room with a confident, almost cocky smile.   
  
“Have you hidden the Memory Charms away like I asked you to?”   
  
“Yes, sir. Each and every one of them has been hidden away in one of one of my specially-made Kiraino.”   
  
“Good. Now go out and use them.”   
  
Her slick smile didn’t match up with the words that were about to come out of her mouth, and both members of the conversation knew that was on purpose. “Wha-me? Sir, you must be joking! You’d usually have Madoka or that right-hand man of yours go out into the field. What’s with the sudden change of plans?”   
  
“Envie, this is no laughing matter. They have already gathered four of the Pretty Cure, and Dark Desire is little more than a mindless puppet this early on anyway. If they were to do any damage to her whatsoever, they’d be able to undo all our efforts and get her back on their side. As for Douleur, well Desire needs help ensuring that she doesn’t revert back to her old ways of doing the so-called right thing, so he’s off being her conscience.”   
  
Her arrogant grin only grew; For the first time in forever, she’d have the battlefield all to herself, a chance to be alone in the spotlight.   
  
“Don’t screw this up, Envie. If you do, you’ll have made yourself useless to me, and you’re already lingering on the edge of that status, anyway.”   
  
Envie couldn’t help but feel a pang of terror form in her stomach once Enemie had made that remark. _ Useless? I, Envie, the star Kiraino maker, useless? Never! _ “Don’t worry, sir. I will make sure they never their hands on all of the Memory Charms-   
  
“I would prefer if you stopped them from getting  _ any  _ of them, but if you really insist on lowering your standards already…”   
  
Envie was flustered by the fault in her logic. “I-I will absolutely not let you down, sir!” She then teleported off to stalk their opponents, see who out of her creations would be best fit to come and assist her today.   
  
The girls who had become Pretty Cure were all making time for a simple chat while walking home from school, with Cure Laugh in the center of all of them telling jokes one after the other; Once she had quickly come up with a plan, Envie tapped a hand on her chin in delight. “That may be a frivolous waste of time, but at least it gave me something to work with!”   
  
With the snap of her fingers, she made herself known to the Pretty Cure as she began to summon a Kiraino in the shape of a balloon, while the sky’s color shifted to its usual dark palette it had when they were fighting.   
  
On cue, the Pretty Cure raised their bracelets to the sky and shouted, in perfect unison, “Pretty Cure, Light of Friends!”   
  
“The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"   
"Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!"   
"Time can heal many wounds, just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!"   
"Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!"   
  
After they had all been given the chance to be finished with their transformations, the interrogation from their leader, Cure Sweet, began. “You! You work for the Negative, don’t you?”   
  
“Indeed I do! I am Envie, the emissary of jealousy, and the person you’ve helped the most, Sweet; But you’ve already heard that from one of my comrades, haven’t you?”   
  
As the other cures all looked at her with slight concern, the tense expression on Sweet’s face only grew more emotive.   
  
“Well, just standing around and you looking angry with me is boring! Let’s get on with the fight, shall we?”   
  
The possessed balloons rose several stories into the air, Cure Laugh and Cure Courage making sure to reach the top of the Negative’s minion before it was too high to reach, kicking the top of it repeatedly. Cure Sweet and Wisdom were on the ground to catch them in case anything went wrong.   
  
As Cure Courage was doing the best she could by jumping on the monster, as soon as her ally moved out of the way, Cure Laugh launched an attack. “Bursting out with laughter and happiness! Pretty Cure Laugh Burst!”   
  
Orange ripples were released towards the monster, causing it to flinch. “One more time should do it!” Courage called out to her, and Laugh gave her a small nod back, getting prepared to strike the Kiraino with one more attack.   
  
“Bursting out with laughter and happiness! Pretty Cure Laugh Burst!” Once more, a wave of orange ripples spread out to hit the monster that Envie created, this time defeating it. Envie had left as soon as she could see her defeat coming, not wanting to take too much of the blame for her failure.   
  
As the Kiraino came apart, an orange decoration began to fall from it, which Cure Sweet rushed to catch in her hands. She stared at the unknown item for a while, of course curious about everything surrounding this mysterious charm that had fallen from the Kiraino.   
  
At least she had been curious, and the object had been a mystery to her, until Bobble came off of her bracelet and started to explain the whole thing. “This is one of the Memory Charms-bo! The secret to the grandest, greatest, most extraordinary powers of the Friendship Kingdom’s Pretty Cure; The Superior Forms! You see, the way it works is that each Pretty Cure can use the Memory Charms in their color to give themselves new attacks! The Vivid Charms, which are super special sparkly golden ones, represents the memories that made you all who you are today.”   
  
“Oh, I get it! At least, I think I get it... So who’s this one for?” Alana turned, eyeing the group of her friends. Sure, the explanation was probably going to be something stupidly obvious, but maybe there was more to it than she thought.   
  
“Well, judging by the orange balloon marking on this one, I’d say it’s probably meant for Cure Laugh.” Bobble spoke, then turning to look at the aforementioned Pretty Cure, who was already attempting to hide herself from the others, out of both shock and slight embarrassment.   
  
“What? No way, I can barely use my powers as it is, there’s no way that I already need an upgrade.” She mumbled slightly, fidgeting with her hair.   
  
“Shion. This represents your ability to make others laugh and smile. Are you saying that you’re boring and don’t deserve the friends you’ve made because of that?”   
  
“Yes. In fact, I agree with all of that! Thanks for helping me see the light, Bobble!’   
  
The other four looked at her nervously. “Shion, you’re the best, most hilarious friend I’ve ever had, and don’t you ever forget that. I’m sure the others would agree too!” After Alana had spoken, they both looked back at the rest of the group, as they were all nodding in agreement.   
  
“Well, then, I guess I will be able to use this after all. T-Thanks, guys.”   
  
"No problem, Shion! I can't wait for the day we all get to see what our Vivid Charms can really do!"


	8. Wisdom's Powering Up! Do Your Best at the Spelling Bee!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys. Sorry for the extremely long delay! I've been working on this chapter ever since I posted 7, but I haven't really had the time to finish it until now. Anyway, enjoy, and I hope I can get the next chapter up quicker!

It had already been late into the afternoon when the principal’s voice came over the announcement system. “Greetings students! As you may have guessed, the annual school spelling bee is right around the corner. So get ready, get set, and spell, spell, spell!”

 

Alana sighed upon hearing the news about the spelling bee. It’s not like she absolutely dreaded the test like she knew some people did, but spelling wasn’t exactly her forte either. “Ah well. Let’s just get this test over with.”

 

Sensing the unusual emotions coming from Alana, Bobble sprang from her bag as quickly as he could.“Alana-bo? Are you feeling alright-bo? You don’t seem to be as energetic as you usually are. Oh my god, please don’t tell me you’re being corrupted too-bo! Alana, please don’t leave me, I need you!”

 

“I’m fine, it’s just that the spelling bee is just really tedious for me, that’s all.”

 

Chika, overhearing the conversation about her beloved spelling bee, decided to jump in with her own opinion “Don’t say that, Alana. Just because spelling isn’t your forte doesn’t mean it’s useless for everyone. Even if you don’t make the cut, it still is a good idea to practice your spelling skills.”

 

Alana sighed. Of course Chika would say that; She was the only one out of all of them who was actually good at it. “Still, I guess you’re right about the whole improvement thing. Besides, even though I know I won’t make it, I’ll have you to cheer for, Chika!”

 

Chika nodded at Alana’s compliments. “I’ve decided. I’m not going to be satisfied with second place anymore. This is the year I make I finally win the spelling bee!”

 

Alana practiced cheering on her friend in a sing-song voice. “Go go Chika! Do your best, Chika!” Alana stopped cheering and thought for awhile on the topic of how to make her cheering even better. “Kaede, Shion, come on and cheer for Chika with me!”

 

Accepting her request for a cheer partner, the trio of girls chanted and copied Alana’s girlish movements, causing Chika to blush profusely. “Go go Chika, do your best Chika!” Chika smiled after the cheer was finished, thanking everyone for their support.

__

 

Enemie had been simply lounging around in his throne room like usual when he had seen the smiles’ on the faces of the Pretty Cure through his magical crystal mirror. “Ah, I can sense the encouragement of friendship spreading between the Pretty Cure. The friendship between them, it absolutely disgusts me. Envie, summon one of your Kirainos to attack them and go dispel it for me, will you?”

 

“Of course, sir.” Envie bowed to her leader before heading off. “With this Kiraino that I’ve created, those Pretty Cure won’t see what’s coming.”

__

On the way home from school that afternoon, Chika practiced her spelling words. While breezing through the rest of her homework, Chika practiced her spelling words. Every day until the test was just another day for Chika to practice and study for the test. Even on the day of the test, she still took the time to study before class, just in case of anything she might’ve skipped over when reviewing the list for the two-hundredth time.

 

Then, the day of the classwide tests had come and gone just as quickly, and as expected, Chika was moving onto the schoolwide round. As everyone else celebrated with her, Madoka could only watch from a distance and quietly complain to herself. With her puffed up cheeks and a stomping right foot, anyone else who would’ve seen her probably would’ve asked if she was a confused student from the elementary school. “It isn’t fair, it isn’t fair, it isn’t fair! Why should those spoiled Pretty Cure all get to achieve their goals so easily while I do all of the work but get none of the payoff?”

 

Even when Madoka was in her civilian form, Envie could easily sense Dark Desire’s envy, just like she had been able to in the past. Upon hearing about her petty jealousy over what her former friend had achieved so quickly, Envie teleported to stand behind her and begin a conversation using her signature teasing sarcasm. “My, my. I’m sensing that someone must have skipped out on their beauty sleep today. Relax, you little princess. I’ll handle the Pretty Cure for you. Now, my beloved Kiraino, rise from this jealousy and cause havoc!” A Kiraino that resembled a large hornet flew into the room as the lights went dark, it’s deep red eyes pointed in anger.

 

“Oh! I get it, because we’re all talking about the spelling bee, and the monster is a giant bee too!”

 

Chika sighed, snapping Kaede back to attention. “Kaede, not now! We have more important things to focus on here!”

 

“Oh, right.” The rest of the team let out an exasperated sigh before transforming to fight the Kiraino in front of them, letting out their group chant, “Pretty Cure! Light of Friends!”

 

"The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"

 

"Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!"

 

"Time can heal many wounds, just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!"

 

"Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!"

 

Even in cure form though, they were still rightfully terrified of getting close to the giant monster hornet that they were up against, instead all deciding to attack it from afar, Alana making the first move on the creature, launching her attack by holding her hand above her head and tapping on her Bond Bracelet.

 

“Open to the kindness! Pretty Cure Sweetness Shower!”

 

Only when the shower of hearts actually hit the wasp did Cure Sweet realize her mistake. “Ah! I-I think it’s coming this way!”

 

Most of the cures ran the other way upon hearing this, but Cure Wisdom suddenly stopped herself. “How dare you...the spelling bee is a time to become proud of your academic achievements. I will not let you ruin that with your jealousy!” Cure Wisdom’s expression was narrowing as she readied her attack, raising her right hand and putting her left out beside her, a ginormous golden clock shining behind her. “Pretty Cure! Wisdom Charge!”

 

Upon getting hit with the clock, the bee shrunk as the red coloring faded from its eyes and it returns to normal.

 

“That attack was stronger than usual-bo. Maybe that means a Memory Charm is in there-bo!” Bobble was soon proven right, a silver trinket falling where the hornet once had been. The charm had a yellow crystal S engraved in the center, proving that it belonged to Cure Wisdom. “So, I guess this’ll make me more powerful now, right? I wonder what it does.”

 

Envie snickered, coming out of the shadows. “You think you can just defeat me with your magic. Well, it won’t be that easy. I have a little puzzle for you, in fact. Welcome to the annual spelling bee! If you win, I’ll hand over this Memory Charm. But if you lose, then I get to keep it.

 

“Whatever! I’ll take you on and get that Memory Charm back, no matter what!” Sweet’s look turned serious, agreeing to the competition.”

 

“Well, then. Your first word is soubrette.”

 

“S-o...u-b-r-e...t…”

 

“S-o-u-b-r-e-t-t-e! Soubrette!”

 

“Crossiant-”

 

Chika’s spelling only sped up. “C-r-o-i-s-s-a-n-t. And by the way, you pronounced that wrong.”

 

Envie growled. She hated being corrected. “You blasted Pretty Cure! What if I meant to do that? That would’ve cost you the competition, you know!”

 

“Yeah. But then again, your blunder just cost you my Memory Charm, so I guess it’s a win-win.”

 

Envie was yelling now, her cheeks going red with anger. “That’s it, I’m leaving! I’ll be back though, so you better watch yourselves, Pretty Cure!” Envie teleported away as the girls returned to normal and the darkness cleared away.

 

Shika’s first memory charm had a big yellow crystal in the shape of an S engraved in the center, letting everybody know that it belonged to her. “So this Memory Charm, it’ll work to power me up right? Still, it seems like it’s special to everyone, so I wonder what this one does... “

 

“I guess you’ll just have to keep on fighting as a Pretty Cure to find out-bo.” Alana smiled as Bobble tried to convince Chika, though she knew that Bobble was preaching to the choir at this point.

 

Alana’s face suddenly lit up. “Hey, I have an idea. Everyone, make a peace sign in the center!” Following Alana’s idea, four hands were soon between them, the four arranged hands forming a star.

 

“That’s so cute! I like it!”

 

“Mm-hmm! This is gonna be our official symbol! The symbol of the Friendly Pretty Cure!”


	9. The Courageous Prince! The Tale of Sleeping Beauty

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> South Ridge Middle School's production of Sleeping Beauty is coming up, and Kaede's been cast as the prince! However, the threat of an evil dragon becomes all too real thanks to the darkness of the looming dark witch...

By the time she had gotten to school that morning, Kaede could feel her heartbeat reach the edge of her chest. Today was the day when the cast list for the drama club’s latest production of Sleeping Beauty, would finally be revealed. She raced to the board, her eyes scanning the list for any positive results, squealing once she saw she’d made the cast.

 

She’d be playing the prince, her princess being played Alana. The longer she thought about it, the more Kaede had settled on Aana being perfect for the role. Alana was probably the most perfect and sweetest girl she knew, no pun intended.

 

Alana smiled as she waltzed over to the cast board. “So, your my prince, huh? Well, then, I’ll just have to be sure to pay attention to you from now on, Kaede.”  

 

For a moment, Kaede’s voice lost it’s bubbly air, turning towards a more sultry tone. “I guess I’ll just be paying extra extra close attention to you too, Princess.” Alana blushed and batted her eyelashes playfully.

\---

Madoka stormed away from the crowd of students before changing forms, visible tears in her eyes and her cheeks flushing red. “What does she have that I don’t? I’m perfect princess material! Kaede should be  _ my  _ prince!”

 

Douler grinned and nodded. It was good to see her so envious, though he was slightly intrigued by what she had just said. She’d never spoken like that around him before, being so enraged about one thing or another. “I agree, you would make an absolutely dazzling princess, darling. But your my princess, and I’m all you need, right? Speaking of which, what did I say about effort?”

 

Madoka sighed, remembering her promise to Douleur, but also desperately wanting to go back to the way she’d been before they’d met. This would be the first time she would even dare to try something like that, and, for a millisecond, she was actually proud of herself as the words came pouring out of her mouth. “I shouldn’t be bothered with these things, I know. But still, I love to-”

 

His pupils shrunk, his voice turning venomous with rage as his fists trembled tightly by his sides. “What did I tell you about passion?”

 

Her legs wavered as she bent herself back, the newly acquired light in her eyes leaving her once again.  “I’m sorry, Douleur! I didn’t mean it, please don’t leave me!” 

 

He gave a Cheshire grin, purring at her slightly in pleasure. “Good girl. Now, don’t do that again, okay darling?”

 

“Yes sir.”

 

\----

As the rehearsals went by, Kaede and Alana grew closer and closer together, the on-stage chemistry between the two girls being undeniable. When they were in character, it was hard not to be convinced that Alana really was a fairy tale princess, and Kaede was her prince charming, her already short blue hair being pulled back in a ponytail. Every day at their lunch table, as the two of them giggled about some inside joke or told the other girls about their progress, Madoka could feel her insides burning hotter with rage and jealousy. Still, Madoka ignored it. She would simply go on with her daily schedule, letting her rage pile up inside her until she had come up with the perfect plan.

 

That day came on the show’s opening night, when Kaede and Alana were being swarmed by other students who were excited to see their performance. When Alana asked to be alone with her friends for a moment, the crowd listened to her request in an instant, almost as if she were a real princess. “Hey you guys, you’ll all come to the show tonight, right?”

 

Chika smiled eagerly. “Of course, Alana! What are friends for? Plus, it’ll be kind of nice to watch someone else partake in a fantasy battle without us having to somehow transform into magical warriors of friendship.” 

 

“Yeah, someone who can actually fight off dangerous threats instead of winning just by popping some balloons.”

 

“Thanks guys. It’s really nice to have your support. It’s my first time acting in a play like this, and I’m actually really nervous!”

 

Kaede rested a hand on her shoulder.“Don’t be, Alana. I’ve seen you run the whole thing perfectly. Not to mention the fact that you can pretty much do anything perfectly on the first try.”

 

“Nobody’s perfect, Kaede.”

 

“Except for you.” Shion smirked, the other girls agreeing with her in a chorus.

 

“You shouldn’t be nervous-bo. You have Kaede with you on stage most of the time, and don’t forget about your excellent practice partner-bo.”

 

“Yeah, Bobble, you definitely brought some of your own flair to the role.”

 

Alana turned to her brunette friend, and smiled.  “Hey, Madoka, are you coming to the show tonight?” 

 

“Yeah, sure, I’ll be there.” A part of Madoka didn’t want to go, and was convinced that the easiest way to get rid of her problem was simply not to face it. But she knew that she had to carry out Envie’s plan for her or risk being left alone again; And if there was one thing she couldn’t afford right now, it was being lonelier than she already was. These friends had left her, so why would she want her only other friends to leave her, too?   

 

By the time she had gotten back to school and taken her seat in the auditorium, the feeling in Madoka’s chest was starting to burst out uncontrollably. Though she tried her hardest to reign herself in until that night, Madoka’s thoughts quickly overtook her mind.  _ That should be my crowd! Whenever I had a concert, they never admired me like that! Why does she get to _ have  _ all that special treatment when for all this time I’ve worked harder than she ever has!”  _ A small part of her knew she shouldn't think like this and that she should be proud of her friends and their accomplishments, but she also knew that this was what they needed in order to go through with their plan.

\---

Envie considered it a miracle that she was able to hide out in the wings for so long, with all their anxiety coming out of the performers and the other negative feelings radiating from the crowd. Madoka’s envy, however, was more than enough to stave her off. She smirked, turning to the dragon prop and silently enchanting it.

 

_ “ _ I have come to rescue the princess from your clutches, you foul dragon! Unhand the fair lady at this instant!”

 

On cue, the dragon sprung forward from the wings, though not in the way that the prop crew had planned. In place of their wooden model, a large black beast towered over the stage, its eyes and nose billowing green smoke. Some people tried to run, though most were glued to their seats, unsure of what was unfolding in front of them.

 

“Girls, I don’t think this is supposed to be a part of the show-bo! You need to transform, now-bo!”

 

“Time can heal all wounds, just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!”

 

“Come laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!”

 

“So, Wisdom, what’s the plan?”

 

“What? I don’t know, it’s a giant dragon! We can’t just charge at it!”

 

Laugh smirked, pretending to tie back her hair. “Come on now, I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. And about the whole charging thing, I think we could try.”

 

“Are you crazy?”

 

“Yes.” After waiting for what was probably less than half a second, Laugh sprinted forward and lept up onto the stage. “Come at me, monster breath!”

 

Wisdom sighed and shook her head. “One day, She’s going to get herself killed doing that. Pretty Cure, Wisdom Charge!” At the sight of the shining clock, Alana and Kaede snuck down from the stage, having sneakily hidden their bracelets away in their sleeves.

 

“The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!”

 

“Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!”

 

The dragon arched its head back and roared ferociously, the sheer power of the sound being enough to send her flying to the center of the stage. Cure Courage glanced towards the dragon’s chest, able to spot a small blue gem stuck in the center right as her Bond Bracelet began to glow.  “Don’t you dare hurt her!” Courage lifted up her arm, a blue bolt of lighting striking down in the palm of her hand. Instead of harming her, though, the light simply wrapped together, forming a bright blue blade in her hands. “Pretty Cure, Shocking Rapier!” With a few swipes over the dragon’s body, it disappeared into thin air, leaving onty the blue charm behind.  

 

“That must be the Theatre Charm! You’ll be able to use your more powerful attack from now on.” 

 

After a brief intermission, the rest of the play went on without any more major interruptions. As the curtain fell across the stage, the two leads took their bows, taking time to appreciate both the applauding crowd and each other’s presence. 

 

“Hey, Kaede?

 

“Yeah?”

 

“I love you.”

 

“I love you too, my Sleeping Beauty.”


	10. The Bake Sale Disaster?! You Can Do It, Sweet!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alana spends all night preparing for the school bake sale. But when something goes wrong with Alana's recipe unexpectedly, can the others convince her that things aren't as bad as they seem?

Alana rolled the shopping cart through the aisles, humming a little tune to herself as she went along. “Alright, Bobble, I need you to check the list one more time.”

 

“We got eggs, butter, flour, sugar, and probably enough other sweets to last a lifetime-bo!”

 

“Remember, you can only start eating them after I tell you I’ve baked everything I need for the sale next week.”

 

“Fine, fine. But you better promise to save from for me! Us fairy mascots will perish without sweet foods-bo! Do you hear me? I’ll perish-bo!”

 

“Alright, I know that I’ve already bought enough to have extra. And don’t forget, I'm inviting the other girls over to be my taste testers after I finish up with the baking.”

 

“Hooray-bo! Thank you, Alana-bo! You’re a lifesaver-bo!”

 

Alana smiled at Bobble's happiness as she paid for her groceries. She loved making her friends happy, and today was no exception. She was in such a good mood because she couldn’t wait to start baking; With being a Pretty Cure and all of the monsters that had been attacking the town lately, along with everything else going on in school, she hadn’t really had very much time to do activities she enjoyed outside of school. Even now, it wasn’t all just for fun; This bake sale was to raise funds for the arts classes at her school, and, as the number one member of the school choir, it was practically her sworn duty to help out the cause.

 

\---

When she looked out the window, the world around her was pitch black. She and her friends really must’ve spent that whole afternoon baking, but she got it done much quicker than if she had been working alone. For the most, part, everything had gone perfectly, and aside from a few spills and a completely burnt batch of muffins, the day had been a success. In her mind, Her efforts were worth the sunlight, though; She’d dug through the recipes out of her grandmother’s cookbook, and she’d been working on perfecting them ever since she was little and first learned how to bake.

 

She was in the middle of deciding whether or not to clean the dishes when she let out a loud yawn, which was the winning factor when she decided to hit the hay.

\--

Douleur looked out through the mirror portal, pleased at his work as he opened it lightly, the cut through dimensions being almost invisible to the naked eye. “Desire, darling, I’ve just come up with a new plan for you, dear! It turns out that Alana is baking some sweets for a bake sale.”

 

Desire couldn’t even bother getting up to reply, so she spoke from the comfort of her couch; It was much comfier there, she was exhausted, and walking all the way to Douleur was too much effort.“So? Why should I care? It’s just some stupid sweets for a stupid class that won’t even matter anyway.” Douleur grinned at his pet; She had been so much easier to train since the incident with their school play, and that pleased him. The smallest inklings of smoke poured through the mirror. That Cure Sweet had hurt his precious little Desire, and now she was going to pay for her mistakes by feeling the same pain and embarrassment that Desire had to go through all those months before.

 

Early in the morning, right before she started on her walk to school, Alana grunted, struggling to pack the one last case of brownies into her backpack without crushing anything else in the process.

 

Her mother looked over at her, slightly worried.“Did you put all the sweets in your backpack, Alana? Or do you need some more help?”

 

“Yeah, I think that should be all of them, mom!”

 

“Alright then, have a good day at school, sweetheart!”

 

Alana and her sisters began their morning walk to school, and, like always, Alana was totally confident that everything would be just fine; Baking was her talent after all, and she’d spent all night preparing everything for today.

\--

She smiled, waiting patiently for customers to gather outside the chorus room. Luckily, most of her friends knew how much love she put into her sweets, so it wasn’t long until people came crowding over. Alana’s heart stopped as she noticed that one of her upperclassman had been the first person in line. The brownie she bought could suddenly be a ticket to her dream come true, but Alana knew how much effort she’d put into it, and comfortingly realized there was no way she could fail.

 

“My, it looks like I’m your first customer.” The girl took a bite out of the brownie, though her expression quickly flipped to one of fear and disgust as she held her stomach. “What-what’s in this Alana?”

 

“Why? Do you not like it?” Alana’s upperclassman opened her mouth to speak, but rushed into the bathroom before she could even say a word, the sounds of retching being heard through the hallway. Alana’s face blushed red, and all she wanted to do was just sink into the ground and disappear as she saw everyone else wander away from the stand, as if they were all trying and failing not to offend her. Her friends, however, were the only ones she could truly count pn to stay by her side during a moment like this. That was what she loved most about them; They were all so dependable. What she needed was time to collect herself. However, it appeared that she was the new plaything of the cosmos today, as her choir director walked out into the hall directly after.

 

“Is everything okay out here, Alana?”

 

Alana cringed inside. How was she supposed to explain to her choir director that she might’ve accidentally given one of her upperclassmen food poisoning? “Well...I guess so, sir.” All Alana could do was glance around the room awkwardly and wait for him to leave so she could pack up her stand in shame. She already felt guilty, though, so maybe it wasn’t even worth the trouble.

 

“Oh my, what’s this I see? The always happy and perfect little Cure Sweet wants to give up? Oh my, I’d never thought I’d see the day! I’ll have to tell my darling about this!”

 

“Leave her alone! Can’t you see she’s in no position to be bothered by the likes of you?” Chika yelled, getting in front of Alana as if she alone were enough to protect her.

 

Douleur smirked, pretending to put on a pair of glasses. “Why would I leave her _alone_ if she were in distress? In fact, wouldn’t your morals be better suited towards comfort a friend who needed it? Although I suppose you girls wouldn’t know much about that option, either.”

 

For a brief moment, the girls glanced around at each other, unsure of what exactly Douleur had been talking about just then. “Oh yeah?” Kaede spoke, her stance becoming more athletic with every word. “Well, none of that matters right now! We know you have some sort of monster attack planned, so just bring it on!”

 

Alana had worked her strength back up now, and was ready to stand on her feet again. “Alright, girls! Everyone, it’s time to transform!”

 

“Alright, if you insist.” He snapped his fingers, one of the leftover cookies suddenly gaining a new monster form.

 

Cure Laugh rolled her eyes, though she was also struggling to hold back a chuckle. “Really? Are you serious? We went through all this build up to fight a giant cookie?”

 

Cure Sweet smiled. “You know, if you look at it the right way, it’s actually kind of adorable.”

 

“I guess you could call it the Cookie Monster?”

 

Douleur clenched his fists. “How is this even possible!? It’s a giant monster, and yet all your doing is smiling at it and joking with it? Kiraino, flatten these brats!” Under its master’s orders, the cookie curled itself and hurriedly parted the hallway into two sections, all of the cures dodging out of the way, though the monster turned around immediately after, charging back at them as though it hadn’t failed before.

 

This continued on for a while, and the Cures had tried everything; They’d tried physically attacking it, though it would just roll out of the way faster than they could kick, and they’d tried most of their magic, but even that didn’t have perfect accuracy.

Douluer had always liked the idea of having the high-ground in a fight, and now that dream had finally become reality. “Who's laughing now, you brats? Wasn’t such an easy fight like you thought, huh?”

 

“H-hold on...We...We can still try one more thing! Sweet, you try purifying it!”

 

“It’s no use, it’ll just dodge it!”

 

“Just try! All you have to do is believe in yourself! We all believe it you!” Wisdom gave her a small smile, taking Sweets hand, with Laugh and Courage on both sides of her.

 

She pressed her Bond Bracelet, the heard in the center charm glowing as she spoke. “Pretty Cure! Sweetness Shower!” Her hands made a heart shape as she said her incantation, and were soon glowing with a bright pink light before they fired off at the giant chocolate chip beast and encircled it, eventually trapping it in a giant heart-shaped bubble.

 

“This was supposed to be impossible! You were supposed to be defeated! Douler took a deep breath in, trying to reign in his nerves and keep his composure. “Oh well, I suppose it can’t be helped.” Douleur said nothing more as he disappeared back into his dimension.

 

“Mmm! Alana, you never told me you made cookies for the bake sale today!”

 

Alana looked over at her friend, rushing over to her side to held her spit the cookie out. “Wait, no, Kaede don’t eat those they’re-”

 

“Mmm! What are you talking about, Alana? These are delicious!” Skeptically, Alana took a bite. The taste had gone back to normal somehow!

 

“So it must’ve been the Kiraino that ruined these! Thank goodness that’s over!”

 

"And look! That Kiraino even dropped another Memory Charm! Aww, it's in the shape of a little pink cookie, so it must be for Sweet!"

 

“Yeah, but imagine how fast the rumors must’ve spread about before...I’ll never raise any money now." Alana sighed, thinking about what every one of her other friends must think about her now.

 

“Alana, everything is going to be fine. You’re the most popular girl and best baker in the school, I’m sure one cookie isn’t going to ruin your reputation.”

 

“Besides! We can help spread the word about your stand again! Everything is going to be just fine!”

 

Alana smiled. “Your right, Kaede! If there was one thing that fight with the Kiraino taught me, it’s that if you just believe in yourself, there’s no way you can fail!”


	11. A Spell for Shallowness! Shion's Dye Pinch!

Shion fidgeted with the new part of her hair as she sat in her bedroom, watching the bright red streak flop back over her face. She knew that she had been begging her parents to let her dye even a small part of her hair for months, but it would still take some time for even her to get used to.

 

Shion knew that it was just one small change, just a change to small section of her otherwise rather boring appearance, but her mind still raced with questions. She knew her family was fine with it, but what about her friends? Would they accept her now that she had changed her appearance so suddenly without even telling them?

 

Flopping backwards on her bed, Shion sighed with a smile, and then had to laugh at how foolish she was being; It was just a little bit of her hair, and she had known from the start that her friends weren’t the shallow type, so of course they would accept her. For the most part, they had all been friends since elementary school, and it seemed like nothing could ruin their friendship, especially since becoming Pretty Cure together had only strengthened their bond.

 

Shion smiled as she propped herself back up, smiling at a picture on her nightstand that the four of them had taken recently. “I’m so lucky to have the friends that I do. I don’t know how I’d have to feel without them!” She’d usually never be that poetic or sentimental, but it was the truth; She’d definitely become a better person because of them.

\---

Looking in on her through the magic mirror, Enemie cackled at her display of gratitude. “Oh, poor, poor Cure Laugh. You just don’t know how quickly your supposed friends are going to turn on you for something so shallow.” With a wave of his hands, he’d sent a spell through the mirror, a wisp of crimson smoke soon being the only trace that he had done anything at all.

 

Dark Desire spoke. “What was your plan for that spell, sir?”

 

Enemie glanced down at her with a confident smile. “You’ll see soon, Desire, but I’m going to need your help to let this plan reach its full potential.”

 

“Understood, sir.”

 

The only time when Shion had noticed that anything had changed was when she went to school in the morning. She walked over to Alana with a smile, secretly hoping that her new hairstyle would bring her some attention. What she wasn’t hoping for however, was any _negative_ attention. Alana looked over at her with slightly-bloodshot eyes, then quickly gave a disapproving frown. “Shion, what happened to your hair? It looks terrible!”

 

“What? All I did was dye some of, Alana.” Shion raised an eyebrow. Shion didn't know what had changed about her overnight other than her hairstyle, but something much more major had definitely happened with Alana.

 

“Well it looks awful on you.” Alana clamped her lips and sauntered away with an upturned nose. Shion frowned at this, but her faith was restored when she saw Kaede walking towards her.

 

As maddening as Alana’s sudden change in personality was, Shion attempted to make light of it with her personal brand of humor. “I already know I look awful, Alana, I don’t need you to tell me twice.”

 

“Kaede, we need to talk, I think something’s happening with-”

 

Kaede had just barely made it past her before she was forced to stop. “Ugh, what is it Shion? I don't have time to talk to people like you. I only talk to people I actually like. Loser.” At this point, Shion was shocked; She and Kaede had been best friends for as long as she could remember, so what was it that was making everyone act so strange that day? Still, just because everyone had been inexplicably rude to her didn’t mean she could skip class, so she ambled to class with her head slightly angled downwards.

 

Instead of being glad to see Chika as she sat down at her sesk, Shion could feel her heartbeat racing, her lips and words speeding at an equal rate. “Chika, nobody wants to talk to me anymore and I don’t know why please help.”

 

For just a moment, Chika stared at her as if she had grown two heads. A small part of Shion was grateful for this, as she hoped that someone had finally come around to notice how odd everyone was acting. However, those hopes were quickly dashed. “Isn’t it obvious? Nobody wants to talk to you because of how awful you look.”

 

In her mind, that had settled some things. She walked into the bathroom, checking herself in the mirror. Her hair hadn’t suddenly turned that one disgusting shade of green, and she wasn’t going bald, nor had she rapidly been growing hair all over her body, so what did they think was wrong with her?

 

Shion whipped her head around once she saw Madoka come into the bathroom behind her. She knew that the bathroom probably wasn’t the best place to have a talk, but since Madoka was the only one of her friends who she hadn’t been humiliated by yet, she was Shion’s last chance to see if she had anyone on her side. “Madoka, have you noticed that everyone’s been acting really weird today?”

 

“As a matter of fact, I have. They’ve been making fun of your hair, no?” While it was strange how robotic and scripted Madoka sounded, Shion quickly remembered that this was the least concerning interaction she’d had with anyone all day; To add to that, she had remembered that Madoka was always like that when she was tired enough.

 

“Yeah. Wait, how did you know that?”

 

Madoka mentally kicked herself for going off her mental script, and paused for a moment as she searched her mind for a believable answer. “I...saw you looking in the mirror and you looked concerned.”

 

Shion tried her best to explain her struggle to Madoka, who had very clearly lost sleep overnight. “OK, well all of our friends have been acting really different, and I need help because I don’t know what to do.”

 

“If I were you I’d just stop caring. There’s nothing you can do about it, but who needs friends, right?”

 

Shion didn’t know whether to laugh or stare in concern. “Madoka, are _you_ okay? You’re usually so caring when it comes to other people, this isn’t like you.”

 

“You want to know what’s different about me?” Madoka had stepped forward, backing the two of them closer to the still empty hallway. “I simply gave in to my despair. You can join me if you’d like, it’s so much easier this way.” As she spoke, Shion could’ve sworn that she had heard a second voice, almost as if Madoka had been possessed by a demon.

 

From another room, Bobble twitched. “Alana, you need to snap out of it! I can sense a Kiraino’s presence coming right for us!”

 

“Fine, fine, I’ll go, but only because I’m in the mood for a good fight.” As Bobble telepathically sent that same plea to the other Cures, Alana walked around until she saw Shion standing alone against a giant bottle of hair dye. “Really? I came all this way to fight a bottle of hair dye? I’m going back to class.”

 

“No! Alana, you have to stay here, you have to remember how you can transform!”

 

Shion, having transformed into Cure Laugh, was holding the monster back, all the while listening to their conversation until Kaede and Chika showed up. This was the perfect chance to get how she was really feeling off of her chest. “Listen, all of you! I’m tired of you putting me down today, I just want to know what I’m doing wrong! You’re supposed to be my friends!”

 

Suddenly, the girls began to blink, their tired eyes appearing to return to normal. Alana spoke as she held her forehead. “What happened? Shion, were we really mean to you like that?”

 

Shion couldn’t deny the truth as she nodded her head, her three friends looking guilty. “But it’s okay, because now I know that you weren’t yourselves. Now come on, let’s beat this bad guy!”

 

The three other cures transformed, tapping on their mono-colored bracelets. As it turned out, after you had taken the darkness out of a monster, it really wasn’t hard to deal with. “Come on, Laugh, give it the final blow!”

Shion clapped her hands as she said her incantation aloud. “Bursting out with laughter and happiness! Pretty Cure Laugh Burst!” Suddenly, a pulse of orange reached the monster, purifying it back into a regular can and leaving an orange charm right next to it.

 

“Shion, I have to apologize for the way we treated-”

 

Shion smiled at her friends’ apology, but didn’t have the heart to accept it. “Alana, it’s fine, you guys literally weren’t in control of yourselves. I do have to admit, Madoka was acting a little weird, have any of you seen her today?” The others’ shook their heads. “I wonder what’s going on with her."   


	12. Presentation Jitters! Memories Hold Darkness?

Madoka woke up in the morning with a strange feeling in her chest, and it didn’t take long for her to figure out why. She had a presentation to give today, and she did not like that one bit. She had known about it for two weeks already and had wanted to skip school today and blame it on a stomach ache, but she knew that her parents wouldn’t approve and send her to school anyway.

 

At the very least, she had Douleur by her side to comfort her, which is more than she could say about her family or friends. “How are you feeling this morning, darling?”

 

“Nervous, mostly, Douleur.” Madoka sighed overdramatically, burying her face in her hands as she did so. How was she ever supposed to best the Pretty Cure in a battle if she couldn’t even get over her fear of public speaking?

 

Suddenly, Douleur placed a hand on Madoka’s shoulder sending a shiver up her spine. “You know what I would do, love? I’d just stop caring. You shouldn’t care if you make a mistake because in the end it doesn’t even matter.”

 

“But this presentation is for a grade, Douleur! If I don’t get a perfect score, my dad’s going to find out and then he’s going to yell at me because he’ll think I didn’t try hard enough and-.”

 

Douluer’s tone grew more forceful after hearing her. “Since when have you cared about your grades, dearest? In fact, what did I tell you about caring for anything at all? I think it’s time for our daily practice, don’t you think?”

 

Douleur pressed a hand to her shoulder and forced her chin up until the two were making eye contact, the grief spirit’s eyes beginning to glow a brilliant blue, and Madoka’s were overcome with a vacant expression. “Take it easy for me, darling. Do not worry, however, because I will protect you from the light.”

 

As he removed his hand and began to withdraw his initial hypnosis, he smiled contently at his charge. He could see the change in her expression, and he loved making her feel better about herself whenever he could. “Feeling better?”

 

“Yes.” Madoka’s eyes were still blank and lifeless, though she was at least able to make her way down the stairs and out of the house safely. That was enough to not raise the suspicions of her mother and father.

\---

Meanwhile, Chika was able to get through her entire morning routine without her wide smile faltering for even a moment. She may have been in the minority when it came to her opinion, but she absolutely loved giving oral presentations, showing the class the project she’d worked so diligently on for hours on end.

 

As Chika finished packing the last of her supplies in her book bag for the school day, she straightened out her papers for the fifth time that morning before finally filing them away in one of her several color-coded folders. “Alright Mom, I’m heading off to school now!”

 

“Good luck on your presentation.”

 

Once she arrived at school and began walking down the hallway towards her locker, Chika was bouncier in her steps than usual, walking through the hallways in sophisticated and professional-looking attire. Though she may have gotten some odd glances from people simply passing by her, her friends all knew what this meant.

 

Alana moved in a way almost as if to copy Chika’s movements, though she was less successful at hiding her nerves about the upcoming assignment. “Oh, Chika! Looking good! Good luck on your English project by the way!”

 

“You too, I’ll see you in class!”

 

As the day went on, neither girl could stop themselves from thinking of their presentations, though the feelings were worlds apart. Chika imagined the crowds’ applause, while Alana wrapped herself up in the sheer empty and awkward silence that would inevitably be present during the whole ordeal.

 

Unfortunately for Alana and fortunately for Chika, the rest of the day eventually passed them by, the two girls soon finding themselves sitting next to each other in their English class, with Madoka sitting in a desk by the corner of the room.  

 

“Alana-bo!” Bobble tried to whisper-yell as loud as he possibly could from the inside of her bag, which luckily made enough noise for her to get distracted.

 

Alana looked down, shooting him a small glare, though it was more from stress than actual anger. “What is it, Bobble? I’m getting quizzed on this for a grade soon!”

 

“I’m sorry Alana, but you have to listen to me! I can sense something dark coming from around here-bo!”

 

“What do you mean you can sense something dark? The whole room is dark, the lights are off!”

 

“That’s not what I mean, Alana, I mean something dark as in something evil…”

 

Alana grimaced as she realized the meaning behind what Bobble was actually trying to say to her from inside her backpack, leaning down in the most discreet way she possibly could while still keeping some form of eye contact with Chika. Of course that would have to happen at a time like this, when there was no way they could both just pretend to “get a drink of water” for at least ten minutes. “Ooohhhh...that’s not good.” She paused, taking sometime to think of what they should do next. Wait, but I don’t understand, how can a Kiraino be here? The room hasn’t gone all shadowy and dark or anything.”

 

“That’s what I’m so worried about-bo. I have no clue where it’s coming from-bo.”

 

“So is this Kiraino invisible or something? How are we supposed to defeat a monster we can’t even see?”

 

“Luckily, I have a way to defeat it!...But it will take some time to gather everyone here without any of your teachers noticing.”

 

“Don’t worry, school lets out in 15 minutes. Send a message to the others to meet me in the courtyard after class.” Bobble nodded, then focused on spreading his thoughts to the others. Fighting the Kiraino itself would have to wait, but there wasn’t any reason why they couldn’t start preparing.

 

Other than Kaede, who had come off of the field late with a bright red face dripping with sweat from a mandatory soccer practice, everyone else had all arrived in the courtyard on time, much to Alana and Bobble’s relief. 

 

Kaede jogged over to them as she wiped the dripping sweat from her forehead.“Hey Alana! Okay, so we’re all here, now what did you want us to do?”

 

“Well, the bad news is Alana and I sensed a Kiraino in class, with no way to access it in the real world.” Bobble paused for dramatic effect. The good news is, I know how we can can get you girls to fight it! In order to find where, or rather, who the Kiraino is coming from, we’re going to have to use a spell!

 

Chika sighed and grabbed at her temples with her index finger and her thumb, her mind already overloading with possibilities as to why this couldn’t possibly work. “Hold on, you mean we’re using more magic? Where does the magic even come from anyway, it doesn’t make any logical--”

 

Bobble shushed her as he quickly floated over to her lips. “Hush, just trust me.”

 

Luckily for you all, Queen Harmonia herself trained me in magic. I need everyone to stand in a circle and hold hands while pressing each other’s bracelets, and we should be going inside of the memory in a few seconds.”

 

“What do you mean we’re going inside someone’s memories--”    

 

They did so, and once a brief flash of light had come and gone, the four girls each opened their eyes to find themselves in a brightly colored room, filled with children playing together. “Woah, where is this place?”

 

The children appeared to be mostly happy together, with the exception of a little girl, her wavy brown pigtails each being held by small purple bows. She had her head down on her desk, and appeared to be on the verge of tears. She was being comforted by another girl, this one with frizzy black hair and wearing large lemon yellow glasses. 

 

Chika was the first to notice the resemblance between the various children and their current selves, perking up when she made the connection. “Is this...our old elementary school?”

 

Kaede smiled, beginning to bounce on her heels energetically at the fondness of the memories that were rushing back to her. “Yeah, I think it is! And look, there’s a little Madoka standing with a little you in the corner!”

 

The older girls watched silently as the two younger versions began to speak to each other, the younger Madoka having finally picked her head up. The past Madoka was slumped over with her head on the small desk and her fingers stuck in her ears. Soon Chika was by her side, watching over her in an attempt to comfort her. “Madoka, it’s going to be okay, you just need to calm down.”

 

Madoka’s younger self raised a fist in an outburst, quickly stopping herself from doing anything serious. “Of course you’re calm! You’re super smart and super popular and perfect at everything!” She paused, retaking control of herself with three deep breaths. “Meanwhile, I'm too nervous to do anything right,..even talking up in front of my own classmates.”

 

“Madoka, everyone gets nervous sometimes, I do too. And I know it’s embarrassing now, but soon you won’t even remember what happened! And no matter what, we’ll always be friends, okay?” Chika extended her pinky finger to Madoka’s, and they soon made a promise to each other. 

 

“Okay...liar.” Madoka whispered under her breath as the promise ended.

 

The world around the Cures’ went dark. “I don’t understand...Whose memories would be able to have a Kiraino?”

 

A purple portal opened as a girl’s monotone voice began to speak from the other side. “You underestimate me, Pretty Cure.” A lavender-haired villainess stepped through the wormhole slowly, her mysterious appearance attracting the attention of each girl who was unaware of her identity.

 

Alana, recognizing the threat, called on the girls with a fierce expression. “Girls, hurry and transform!” Doing she said, the girls tapped on their bracelets in unison, activating their transformations  with perfect timing.

 

"The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"

 

"Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!"

 

"Time can heal many wounds, just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!"

 

"Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!"

 

After taking a glance at her frozen child-self, Wisdom stepped to the front of the group, her yellow eyes narrowed. “Now, tell us who you are!”

 

“Oh? And here I thought you were supposed to be the smart one. You wouldn’t care about who I am, anyway. You all left me once, who’s to say you won’t do it again?”

 

Sweet began to yell, afraid of a repeat of their last confrontation. “What are you talking about, we never left you! We were never even with you in the first place.”

 

Dark Desire’s eyes froze, her mouth opening slightly in shock, though she soon regained her composure. “Oh. I see. That just gives me all the more reason to destroy you! Kiraino, spread the darkness of despair!” Soon, a large purple hand began to materialize from the ground, swinging its fingers violently. Cure Courage instinctively jumped towards the top, only to get swatted away by the quick movements of the pointer, most of the others following her lead only to be met with similar reactions. 

 

Wisdom looked at the battle from the ground as she thought of her own strategy. “Wait a minute, it’s so obvious! Everyone, aim for the palm!” Wisdom charged at the center of the hand, making it wobble backwards in pain.

 

After a few more hits to the Kiraino’s center, it was left completely open for Chika to purify, as she smirked and gently nodded her head in an unusual spurt of confidence. “Pretty Cure! Wisdom Charge!”

 

Soon, the hand monster fell flat on its back, Dark Desire’s expression growing tired as she retreated back into her portal. “I’m telling Douleur about this! You’ll see!” A yellow charm was left in the monster's wake, Wisdom picking it up and eyeing it carefully as she placed it on her bracelet.

 

As Bobble reversed the spell, and the girls were sent back to the present day, they were all left tired and smiling. “Hey Chika? Check it out! It looks like we all got A’s on our reports!”

“That’s nice Alana....but I think...I’m done talking to others for now.” Chika panted for air.

 

As much as she had wanted to simply flop into her bed that night, Chika couldn’t just sleep; As much as she didn’t want to admit it to herself or anyone else, she knew the identity of Dark Desire. 


	13. Heart-racing! The Story of A Crush!

Normally at South Ridge Middle School, the cafeteria was hustling and bustling with hungry students during the first block of the afternoon, but today Madoka could easily block out the noise and chatter as she stared and smiled at Kaede. She had been sitting across from across their lunch table as she spoke, her radiant smile and constant positivity beaming even brighter than usual today. Madoka had always known that her friends were all much prettier than her, but today it seemed more obvious than normal.

 

Another one of their mutual friends, Reika, was sitting by Kaede’s side, chatting nonstop with the blue haired girl simply about how much they loved each other. As obvious as it should have been, Madoka could never tell if they were joking when they got like this, the two girls snuggling close together and calling each other various pet names.

 

“I Love you, honey!”

 

Reika snuggled around Kaede’s arm in response. “Aww, I love you too, babe!”

 

Madoka could definitely understand what they two saw in each other. Like all of Madoka’s friends, Reika was rather pretty, with her long blonde hair and chocolate brown eyes. Of course, Kaede was Kaede; Always kind and happy and friendly yet brave and bold and strong. If she didn't know Alana, Kaede would've been the most perfect person she knew.

 

If it weren’t for the fact that she had been  _ cursed  _ not to feel passion, Madoka almost wished it could’ve been her in Reika’s place,Kaede playfully flirting with her instead. Still, Madoka kept quiet and tried her best to block out those thoughts, as she shuddered at the thought of Douleur raising his voice at her for feeling again.

 

Madoka’s eyes grew to the size of dinner plates when she heard Douleur voice suddenly come through her mind. “I can still hear your thoughts, you know. How do you think we met that first night? And you think we’ve cursed you?” She felt a phantom hand lift her chin. “No, no, love, we saved you, believe me, okay? You have to believe me when I say this, Madoka; The Pretty Cure are trying to make you suffer. They are trying to bring you back to the unimaginable pain you were in before we met.”

 

Madoka’s eyes went blank as she made her voice unintelligible to everyone but Douleur. “I believe you, sir.”

 

“And about the whole yelling thing? I’ll only yell at you when I have to, darling. You know I love you more than anything. I just want to make sure your staying on track the way we want you to. Have a good day at school, darling!” With that Douler’s voice disappeared, and she could finally refocus on the reality around her.

 

“Hey Madoka! Earth to Madoka!” Upon hearing her name, Madoka looked up at Kaede from her stupor. “What’s wrong, Madoka? Are you tired or something?

 

“Nothing’s wrong, Kaede. I’m not tired” She lied. She was both emotionally and physically exhausted, the weight of Dark Desire’s magic on her making it near impossible for her to get a good night’s sleep.

 

“Hey Madoka, I have a favor to ask you. Do you know how to ask a girl to the school dance? Like, did you ever ask your older brother for advice or something?”

 

Truth be told, Madoka had forgotten all about the Holiday Formal, not that she had ever planned on going. It was stupid dance where she’d have to spend hours surrounded by people, most of whom she’d probably never even met before. If you asked her, she’d much rather spend the night in the manor with Douleur, where she never had to work for anything because everything was given to her.

 

Madoka’s heart skipped a beat. If Kaede was wanting to go with her, then maybe she’d go after all. “Kaede--”

 

“This is for Reika by the way. I just want to ask her if she wanted  to go as friends.” Madoka sighed internally as she heard Kaede finish her sentence. 

 

Madoka looked down at the ground, half-flustered. “Oh, of course, you want to ask Reika...Not that there’s a problem with that, or anything!” Madoka lied through her teeth for the second time that day.” Of course Madoka had a problem with that; Kaede should have loved _her,_ and she didn't; Not in the same way she had loved Kaede, at least. Ever since Kaede had been the prince in the play, Kaede had always  taken her breath away, and they hadn’t even been in the play together! 

 

Not that it was unusual for Madoka, of course; She had always known that she’d simply preferred girls over boys, and, though it was hard to believe now, she wouldn’t deny having a crush on Alana a while back. As much as Madoka wanted to, There was no denying that Alana was perfect; Perfect golden hair, perfect blue eyes, perfect voice.

 

Alas, that had certainly not been the case recently, as those were all things she had now envied her for. Even if her crush on Alana had come and gone, she had a different crush that she had to deal with now, she reminded herself. 

 

“You certainly seem to be close to each other, I really don’t see anything wrong with just going up and asking.”

 

“Oh...Wow, that actually does make a lot of sense! Thanks Madoka! I’ll be sure to ask her this afternoon.”

 

“No problem, Kaede.” Madoka smiled, although there was an undeniable pain in her chest as they both walked back to the chorus room together. She tried to push it down, however, as heartbreak was nothing that she hadn’t been through before. As she thought about it, there had never been a time where her crushes had actually accepted her, if they even knew about her feelings at all.

 

As the chorus room was filled with holiday cheer for the upcoming break, the heartbreak grew worse. She thought about her relationships with other people; Her uncle’s birthday was coming up, but he wasn’t around anymore, and she now felt more lonely than ever, being isolated from all of her friends and all. 

 

Though she wasn’t necessarily looking for one, it wouldn’t have been so bad to have a special someone to spend time with over the break either, though that may have just been her mother’s influence rubbing off on her.

 

Kaede, meanwhile, was more nervous than she had ever been before. What if Reika said no? What if she got nervous and made a fool of herself? What if Reika had already accepted someone else?

 

As the final bell rang to get out of their class, Madoka couldn't help but eavesdrop on Kaede’s conversation with Reika. Maybe if she hoped and prayed, Kaede would change her mind. Maybe for once during this miserable school year, something would go Madoka’s way.

 

It didn't. Kaede asked Reika, who gladly accepted her invitation to the Holiday Formal, squeezing Kaede tightly in a hug in return. Madoka tried not to cry, though she could feel the wetness on her face as she ran out of the building. She hated this, and she knew Douleur was right about emotions, but she couldn't stop. “Is this what it’s like to be fully human? Is it having emotions?” It was then she thought back to her childhood, when she could never remember being truly happy or sad. 

 

She shook her head. Emotions didn't matter. If she followed Douleur’s instructions, she would be truly happy and at peace. There was just a part of her that didn't believe that. She transformed into Dark Desire, stopping time as she did so.

 

As Madoka left the building, all Kaede could see was black shadows, a large black Kiraino in the shape of a broken heart emerging from the ground. 

 

“Kaede!” Alana called, and at that moment Kaede was more than thankful that they had all stayed after school that evening. “Ready to transform?

 

Lifting their bracelets high into the air,they all stepped forward. “Pretty Cure, Light of Friends!”

 

"The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"

 

"Time can heal many wounds, just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!"

 

"Reaching out your inner feelings! Cure Courage!"

 

“Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!”

 

“Heh. If it isn't the Pretty Cure; I should have known I could always find you in the darkness.”

 

Alana stepped forward slowly her voice trembling in between bravery and cowardice. “Well, we wouldn't have to be here if it weren't for you guys always causing trouble!”

 

Dark Desire didn't respond, instead opting to simply smirk as she cleared her throat. She then began to sing, although not with words, but instead a simple ah vowel. Her voice was hauntingly beautiful and the same could be said of the melody she was singing, almost as if she was actually one of the sirens of legend, though the voice was familiar to all of them.

 

One by one, the Pretty Cure began to crumple to their feet and cry, dropping to the ground like flies. None of the Cures understood why this simple melody was making them feel so hopeless and depressed all of a sudden, but it was. When she saw that they had been fully paralyzed, Dark Desire grinned madly. “That’s my Melody of Despair. I knew you would like it...It’s the perfect sound for my Kiraino to destroy all of you!”

 

Soon the broken heart began to pulse a bright pink light and wail in pain, which brought the already harmed Pretty Cure down to the floor. Suddenly, Cure Courage begin to choke out words and steadily and slowly rose to her feet. “Look, Dark Desire, I could never know about whatever pain that caused you to become corrupted. But I do know that this isn't the right way to go about solving your problem. Whenever you feel sad or angry,you shouldn't just bottle up your feelings and keep them to yourself, You should talk about them. Talk to your family, talk to your friends!”

 

For just a moment, There was a brief flash of light in Cure Courage’s eyes before she was returned to the battlefield, Dark Desire whispering as the battlefield went otherwise dead silent. “Foolish Pretty Cure….I have no friends.”

 

“You know what that means, then? When we free you, you can be friends with us!”

 

Dark Desire growled and screamed back in response, almost as if though she was a little girl in the middle of a screaming tantrum. “I don't need you, I don't need to be freed, and I don't need anymore friends!” She paused, regaining her breath and composure as if though it had never left her in the first place. “After all, who needs friends when you have success?”

 

With that, Dark Desire had destroyed her own Kiraino, leaving nothing behind but a blue Memory Charm, which had been engraved with a heart shaped gem in the center.

 

In the meantime, Reika had run back into the school. “I just forgot something. Man, my brain is so foggy it feels like I just woke up from a nap or something.”

 

“What was it? I could run and go get it for you, if you want.”

 

“No, it’s fine, there’s just something I have to say, Kaede.” Reika paused, bringing the taller of the pair closer as she whispered in her ear. “I love you.” Reika planted a small kiss on Kaede’s cheek, blushing awkwardly as she pulled back.  “So…”

 

“I love you too, Reika. I mean it.”


	14. Absolute Perfection! Sweet Under A Spell!

Fingers resting on a set of white piano keys as she corrected her posture, Alana smiled as she began to play her beloved piano as if though she hadn’t had to take a break from it. Playing the piano, like baking, was another one of the many hobbies that she’d barely had the time for since becoming a Pretty Cure. Gently, she tapped on each key one by one, doing that over and over until she had finally created a melody she was satisfied with playing, continuing it, until soon she was completely absorbed in her music.

 

Hearing the beautiful music, Bobble sprang forth from his resting position on her Bond Bracelet, his beady black eyes opening almost immediately. “Woah! What’s that beautiful music-bo?”

 

Alana smiled, blushing to her mascot partner in humility. “Thanks! That’s just a little something I came up with off the top of my head, inspired by that last battle we had with Dark Desire. I know it was a tough fight, but I just know I’ve heard that voice somewhere. I didn’t know if I’d still be good at this or not, since it’s been so long since I last practiced.”

 

“You’re not just good, you’re amazing-bo! And you came up with that whole song just now? I didn’t even know that was possible-bo!”

 

Suddenly, Alana’s phone rang with a message. As she looked at it, she smiled. “Oh! My choir director just posted new practice tracks! I was wondering when these would come out! Sorry Bobble, I’ll have to look at this new music for choir now, but this’ll only take about fifteen minutes, okay? I’ll play the piano for you again later.”

 

“Okay! Do you mind if I stay out here and listen to you sing-bo? Pretty please?”

 

“I mean, you can if you want, but this is the first time I’ve ever sung through it all the way, so don’t be surprised if there are lots of mistakes, and it probably won’t sound too pretty either.”

 

Needless to say, there weren’t. And even if there were any, Bobble didn’t notice over the sheer joy he was hearing come from her voice through every note. From the moment after she opened her mouth to sing to the very last moment of the piece, Bobble was completely enraptured with Alana’s voice. “Alana, that was incredible-bo! Seriously, now I understand why Dark Desire’s so jealous of you, it’s almost like there’s nothing you can’t do!”

 

Again, Alana was humbled by the praise Bobble was showring on her. “Oh stop it, it’s not like I’m good at everything. For example, I can’t run very fast like Kaede can, and my drawing skills are...below average.”

 

“I’ve seen you run to the school bus whenever you and your sisters are late,  and I’ve seen your doodles before, and they look alright to me.”

 

Suddenly, Alana blushed in embarrassment. “You’ve seen my drawings? How?”

 

“Well, if you didn’t want me to see them, then you should have closed your journal when you put it in your backpack-bo.”

 

“I did!” 

 

“Well then maybe you should give me more to do when you're at school. It gets boring, sitting in that stuffy bag for seven hours a day-bo.”

 

“I'll keep that in mind, as long as you stop messing with my stuff.”

 

“It’s a deal-bo.”

 

* * *

 

Meanwhile, Envie was watching the scene unfold through her vivid green eyes, menacingly staring at Alana as a plan began to form in her mind. “This is going to go over perfectly! Now to just share it with the boss and I’ll be set for life!” Confidently, she teleported away in a green puff of smoke back to the Negative Manor, where most of her comrades were patiently waiting for her status update on the pink cure’s alter-ego.

 

“So, Envie, what’s the state of our least favorite girl?”

 

“The brat was being showered with praise, apparently because she can play the piano and sing beautifully. I must admit, those are skills I didn't know she possessed. But that’s unimportant. I was thinking about how I could possibly use her talents to our advantage.”

 

Enimie watched patiently in anticipation for Envie’s plan. Both of them would do Anything for a chance to have her be useful for once. “Well, with that being said, I was thinking of amplifying her arrogance. With all of this praise that she’s getting, she must have at least a small amount of it growing inside her.”

 

Now the right-hand-man of the Negative was finally curious to hear about the green-haired witch’s plan, marking a first during the time they’d spent together. “Oh? And how do you plan to go about doing that? From what we’ve seen of that annoying little brat she seems to be incorruptible.”

 

“Well, that means that we simply haven’t tried everything to corrupt her, Douluer. I’ll cast a spell, of course. If the spell goes our way, her arrogance will grow so large seemingly overnight, that she’ll simply push all of her friends away.”

 

He nodded in approval, giving Envie a once in a lifetime sign of positivity. “Yes, excellent. You may proceed with your plan, Enemie.”

 

“Thank you, sir.” She bowed to her leader before casting her spell and sending it through the magic mirror portal, the dark magic manifesting in a deep green puff of smoke.

 

* * *

 

The next morning, Alana woke up feeling different in a way she couldn’t describe. She felt more  _ important  _ than normal, almost as if though she had woken up and become completely flawless. Nothing had looked different when she checked her mirror, though she smiled when she realized that there was no reason for anything to change; After all, she was already perfect just the way she was.

 

As Alana walked downstairs, her mother gave her a tired yet warm smile, holding a cup of coffee in her hands.“Good morning, Alana. How’d you sleep?”

 

“Perfectly, of course! Just like I do everything else!” Alana smiled as she walked downstairs, beginning to make herself breakfast, smiling as she finally ate for the morning. “Of course, this tastes amazing, obviously because I made it.” She smirked to herself; She always knew she was a good chef, but she had even impressed herself today.

 

“Loving the boosted confidence, sweetie.” Alana’s mother smiled. She was surprised at her daughter, but not concerned in the slightest; After all, what kind of parent would she be if she didn’t want her daughter to feel proud of all that she did?

 

Since her twin sisters had gone in early today to catch up on their assignments for school, Alana had to walk to the bus stop alone today. “I’m leaving now, and I’m going to have a perfect day!”

 

“That’s the spirit honey!” Her mother called to her as Alana walked out the door and to the bus stop.

 

* * *

 

As she walked into the choir room with her head held high, Alana beamed. She was perfect in all other other areas, yes, but singing and music was where she was more than perfect; It was, after all, the area where she had first discovered her perfection.

 

As she settled into her seat, Kaede and Chika smiled at her. “Hey Alana!”All Alana did in response was grunt and roll her eyes. She didn't have the time or patience to deal with those two former friends of hers, and she was instead focusing on “New Alana” and that meant bigger and better things.

 

The two other girls stared at each other with rightly confused looks on their faces. “What’s wrong Alana? Did you wake up on the wrong side of the bed or something?”

 

“Don't you know that I only talk to perfect people?”

 

The two glanced at each other again before Chika came up with a response. “Alana, nobody’s perfect. Everybody makes mistakes, and everybody has bad days.”

 

“Nobody except for me, if course! I’m the most perfect person in the world and everybody thinks so because I’m perfect at everything.”

 

* * *

 

It was only lunch time and Chika was already sick and tired of her friend’s new attitude. As she saw Alana walk over to the from the kitchen area, Chika motioned for her friend to sit down at their usual table, though with much less enthusiasm than normal. She was unsure if she was going to regret this decision later. “Alana, please come here and sit with us. I think we all need to have a talk, just the four of us.”

 

Alana forced herself to not walk past them, her feet barely stopping as she considered it. “You want  _ me  _ to sit with you all? Oh no, you must be thinking of the old Alana. The  _ new  _ Alana doesn’t just sit with anyone at lunch, you know, because the new Alana doesn't have time for imperfect people. I do have lots of friends, after all!” 

 

As Alana sauntered away, Kaede, in a rare showing of negativity  sighed as she dropped her head into her hands in distress, running her hands through her short blue hair. Sighing, She muffled her speech from her hands. “Alright, can we all agree that this “new Alana” is driving us crazy?” 

 

The others simply nodded in agreement and worry, Shion being the first to speak up. “It’s like she just woke up this morning and all of a sudden became a huge jerk!” The others looked at her in shock, surprised that she would ever speak that loudly, especially about someone else. Shion blushed, sinking back down in her seat. “I mean, well, I can understand why she wouldn't want to talk to me, because I really am a loser if you think about it, but the rest of you are all her really good friends, so why would she push the rest you away?”

 

“I swear, it's like she’s lost her mind or something,” Kaede said.

 

Suddenly, a light bulb came on in Chika’s brain. “Because I don't think she’s in control of her mind at all. Do you remember when we were all put under that spell by the Negative to make us all really shallow, back when Shion dyed her hair red?” 

 

Shion rolled her eyes. “Ugh, don't remind me, that was the worst day I've ever had...And I’ve had a lot of bad days, so that’s saying something.”

 

“Well, if my theory is correct, then that means that they put Alana under another spell to make her seem vain.”

 

“So how do we get the old Alana back?”

 

“We’d have to ask Bobble since he’s the one who’s an expert on magic...Who is currently in Alana’s backpack.”

 

“In order to find him, one of us would have to get close enough to her to have access to her bag, but she hates all of us today, so that’s out of the question. The good news is that we don't need to steal her bag, we just need to unzip it and let Bobble fly out on his own.”

 

“But how will we know where Bobble is in her bag before we unzip it?

 

Chika smiled, her eyes full of hope. “Trust me, he’s a smart little alien creature. He’ll probably fly out on his own. And besides, he probably wants to save Alana just as much as we do, if not more. After all, he’s the one who’s had to put up with her majesty all day. I just hope our plan works.”

* * *

As the school day came to a close, each of the girls was very careful to remain close to Alana, baiting her and relaxing her ego by showering her with praise. Suddenly, Chika spoke up. “Oh, Alana, I think your book bag came unzipped, let me get it for you. Perfect people shouldn't have to deal with losing things, after all.”

 

Keeping her hand steady, Chika yanked the zipper down, leaving both Bobble and a hand mirror to spill out of her Alana’s backpack. “Hey, what do you think you’re doing? Look what you did, now I have to-”

 

“Oh, girls, I’m so happy to see you again-bo! Alana’s been under the influence of a lot of dark magic, so we'll have to work fast if we want to save her-bo.” 

 

As if the mirror could hear Bobble’s words, a large amount of green smoke began pouring from Alana’s chest and into the mirror, time stopping as the world around them began to go dark and Alana fell to the ground in a strengthless heap.

 

Envie cackled, looking down at the worried girls. “You may have discovered my spell on Cure Sweet, but without her you’ll never be able to defeat my Kiraino!” On the cue of Envie’s voice, The mirror rose into the air, twisting, transforming and shattering until it was an unrecognizable monster.

 

“Pretty Cure, Light of Friends!”

 

After they had all fully transformed, the raced towards it to attack, Kaede jumping into the air to punch it, it’s glass body suddenly turning invisible. “Well, I’m out of ideas. Laugh, do you have any suggestions?”

 

“Nothing other than magic it until it fades, no. I said it was an idea, not that it was any good.”

 

Realizing the hidden brilliance in her plan, Wisdom smiled at her orange-haired partner. “Hold on Laugh, that might just work! The monster can fade physically, but since the magic of Friendship doesn't work with the same physics in our world, it just may be that our powers negate the invisibility effect!”

 

“So...power them to death?”

 

Cure Wisdom nodded. “Pretty Cure! Wisdom Charge!”

 

“Pretty Cure! Laughter Burst!”

 

“Pretty Cure! Courage Thunder!”

 

Suddenly, Alana slowly rose to her feet, working off the pain in her legs and the tiredness in her eyes to tap on her Bond Bracelet. “Pretty Cure...Light of Friends!”

 

“What? No, you were weakened! How is this possible?”

 

“Because I know my friends believe in me enough to save me from the darkest moments, and stay with me even through the stormy weather! That’s why they’re my friends!” Cure Sweet glared at Envie, fully ready to fight. “Now to deal with you! Pretty Cure! Sweetness Shower!”

 

Within moments, the mirror monster had completely shattered, leaving behind nothing but a pink Memory Charm for Alana to place on her bracelet. “Oh girls, I’m so sorry, I-I didn’t mean to act so rude and-”

 

“Alana, they literally put a spell on you to make you act like, it’s not your fault.” 

 

“So, you forgive me then?”

 

“Of course! We’re so happy to see you back to normal, Alana!”


	15. Snapshot! A Corrupted Camera and its Memories!

Camera in hand, Shion focused intently on the brightly-colored bloom in front of her, taking a snapshot a mere moment before a strong gust of wind scattered the petals away in several directions. Shion sighed. “Well, at least I was able to get a picture while it lasted.” She smiled as the photo was added to her album, up against pictures of several painted sunsets and scenes of her and her friends enjoying their day at an amusement park they had gone to for a choir competition the year prior.

 

Although it wasn’t something she touted around as being one of her special talents (As if she had ever declared anything of hers as special at all) and it wasn’t something anyone would immediately associate her with, Shion would freely admit that enjoyed photography, posting her photos on social media whenever it crossed her mind. She had even considered joining the yearbook club at one point, though her introverted nature had soon caused her to disappear from the club due to the sheer number of people involved. 

 

Still, despite her usually being alone in her photographic pursuits and nature walks, Shion enjoyed the hobby nonetheless, it blending the perfect amount of alone time with something she enjoyed doing. She readied her camera once more around the treetops, taking several pictures of small songbirds that were perched in the bare autumn branches, before quickly deciding to head back inside her house due to the bitter cold winds of the oncoming winter.

 

However, even though she was used to being alone with just her and her pictures and no one else to see them, Shion had taken a step in the right direction; Unless she had forgotten her camera at home the next day, she was planning on submitting her pictures to the school’s magazine. It wasn't a very big publication, simply pages with a few writings, drawings and articles that had been submitted by the student body, but for Shion it was a step towards finally becoming a known member of her school community, which was a much better feeling than being all alone at such a large school.

 

* * *

 

Like they typically had been with all of the Pretty Cure as they went about their daily lives, the members of The Negative were silent onlookers to Shion’s hobby session, watching the girl’s every movement through their magic mirror. As they all witnessed Shion walk inside of her house and the mirror returned to it’s normal reflective state, Douleur spoke as confidently as he always did. “I have come up with a simple plan, though it is guaranteed drive a rift in the Pretty Cure’s friendship; We’re going to corrupt her camera.”

 

Envie looked at Douleur with an eyebrow raised, unimpressed. “Douleur, have you forgotten that my magic can only corrupt humans? It needs negativity to work, and last time I checked, cameras cannot feel negativity.”

 

“Oh, but who had ever said we needed magic?” Douleur smirked at his green-haired comrade arrogantly, proving that he was about to one-up her. The film that’s stored on cameras can easily be corrupted due to a virus or destruction. All we would have to do is find a way to destroy Laugh’s camera and pin the blame on one of the others. It’s clear that she holds the camera very dear to her, and if she found out that one of her supposed friends had destroyed it, that would cause her so much grief that her ability to transform would almost surely disappear.”

 

“And so that’s the weakest of the bunch taken care of, but what about the ones who can actually put up a fight? Sweet, Wisdom, and Courage?”

 

Douleur snickered. “Knowing their sense of morals, whoever Laugh thinks broke her precious camera is going to feel simply terrible about it, spending all of their energy trying to find a way to make it up to her.”

 

“How pathetic.” Envie spoke, Douleur nodding his head in agreement. There weren’t very many issues where the two saw eye to eye, but the one thing that bonded them together was their mutual hatred for the Pretty Cure.

 

“Oh! And I know the perfect way we could destroy it without getting caught.” Douleur passed through the mirror in his phantom form into Madoka’s house. “Madoka, darling, I have something I want you to do for me.”

 

Madoka flopped over onto her bed and groaned, the whininess in her voice apparent. “I don’t wanna, I hate doing things.” Douleur smiled. The lack of ambition had been such a cute idea for her, the way it had destroyed all the passion in her heart.

 

Douleur readied his hypnosis voice as he walked over to Madoka’s side. “Yes my pet, I know that doing things takes energy that you don’t have right now. But I think you’ll enjoy this very much. You know Cure Laugh, correct? Also known as Shion Tsubasa?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“You want to destroy her camera. Remember how much pain she caused you when she and all of the others turned their back on you in your time of need, and inflict the same pain on her.  Think of this as your revenge. And after all, it’s just a silly camera, it won’t cause any harm to you.”

 

“I want to destroy her camera.” Madoka repeated slowly, eyes still glazed over from Douluer’s hypnosis.

 

“And it won’t even be your fault. We’re going to work some magic and make someone else take the blame for you, okay? So you won’t even have to feel guilty about anything at all.”

 

“I want to destroy her camera.” She repeated the phrase over and over again until the command was branded in her mind. She had to find a way to destroy that camera, if it would please Douleur.

* * *

 

The next morning, Shion walked into the computer lab with a smile, though that smile quickly faded when she saw a mysterious pile of destruction where her camera used to sit. “Wha- my camera!” She ran over to the table where her busted camera sat, multiple parts strewn across it, the lens cracked in two. “All of my pictures are ruined now!” Though it was rare for her, Shion couldn’t help but shed a tear at the sight of her destroyed camera. She had worked so hard to get all of those photos, and there were some of those that she would never have the chance to retake again.

 

Alana walked to her side, her usual smile turned upside-down as she comforted her friend and explained what happened. “Oh Shion, I’m sorry, I think I might of accidentally spilled some water on it the other day but by the time it had happened you had already left so I tried to fix it myself--”

 

Now Shion had gone from sad to frustrated. “You did this? Alana, why didn’t you just text me about it instead of hiding the truth!”

 

Suddenly, Alana felt a lump rise to the top of throat, and she almost felt like she wanted to burst into tears right then and there. “I don’t know. I guess I wasn’t thinking straight or something at the time, Shion I’m so sorry.”

 

“Just saying sorry isn’t going to fix my camera, Alana. And it’s not going to fix our friendship either.” Shion scooped up the broken camera parts, cradling them in her arms and huffing angrily as she walked back into the hallway. Despite the lack of hope, she wanted to believe that she could, with a roll of duct tape and a miracle, find a way to make it work.

* * *

 

Unfortunately, by the time she had reached her favorite tech support person, Chika grimaced at the pile of scraps. “Well, the good news is that the film memory card still seems to be in one piece. The bad news is that nothing else is.

 

“So you can still save the pictures?”

 

“I can try to save the ones you still have on here, yeah, but your going to need a brand new camera if you ever want to take any more.”

 

About 15 fidgeting-filled minutes later, Chika turned in her chair and smiled back at Shion. “The good news is that I successfully scanned your camera for you to try and save the rest of your pictures onto my laptop. But when I scanned the files, they were acting in a strange way that I’d never seen before. Everything looked darker and distorted, almost like the space around us whenever we’re battling the Negative.”

 

“I wonder...we’ve been getting attacked with a lot of dark magic lately, so do you think that has anything to do with what’s been going on with my camera? Alana’s explanation did seem kind of strange, now that I think about it. I don’t think regular water could cause a camera to just fall apart like that. And Alana doesn’t know how to fix a camera, well then I’ve gotta say that’s the first thing she’s not perfect at.”

 

Alana wandered into the room. “There you are, Shion. I just wanted to say that I’m super sorry about your camera and I was wondering if there was any possible way that I could make it up to you.”

 

“I need to talk to Bobble, then. I need his help with something.”

 

Bobble floated out of Alana’s backpack with a smile, though he was soon able to read the serious aura in the room, his expression. “Anything at all-bo! What do you need, Shion-bo?”

 

“Bobble, Can you tell us if there’s any dark magic in these pictures?” He looked at the screen, with its collage of pictures, and his eyes soon widened in horror. “Yes! There’s a lot of it-bo! We need to do something quickly before something bad happens-bo!”

 

“Too late.” Douleur appeared in the room and smirked as the room went dark. With a snap of his fingers, Shion’s camera put itself back together again before it began its transformation into a large Kiraino. 

 

“Girls, let’s transform! Pretty Cure Light of Friends! Time heals all wounds just open your heart! Cure Wisdom!”

 

“Pretty Cure, Light of Friends!” Alana had fully expected to be embraced by a warm pink glow, instead she was still left standing in the darkness as her expression turned to one of panic. As Alana looked around her and saw that Shion was struggling to activate her transformation in the same way. “What’s going on, why can’t Shion and I transform? What did you do to our powers, you monster?”

 

“Ah ah ah. I did nothing wrong, so you can’t blame me.” You can’t transform if there’s sorrow in your hearts, and I sense plenty of sorrow coming from the two of you.”

 

As much as they hated to admit it, the two girls both knew exactly what he meant, biting their lips and fidgeting awkwardly. “Shion, I’m sorry for what I did to your camera, but you have to forgive me!”

 

“I forgive you then. As long as we can save my pictures together, I could always just buy a new camera.”

 

“Alright then, let’s save those picture perfect memories! Let’s try one more time!” Smiling this time, the two girls said the transformation phrase again. “Pretty Cure, Light of Friends!”

"The bonds formed by love and kindness! Cure Sweet!"

 

“Laugh and smile with me! Cure Laugh!”

 

The two dashed forward hand in hand towards the Kiraino, only to be stopped by a bright flash of light, the two soon being knocked over by a feeling of vertigo. “Hah! You didn’t think it would be that easy to defeat one of my Kiraino’s did you? Try and see how easy it is when you can barely stand up straight!”

 

Douleur didn’t expect Wisdom to call to them. “Girls, follow my lead and just try attacking it from the back! It might try to use it’s light manipulation on you, so go as quickly as you can. If it hits you, wait a minute before getting back up again!”

 

Douleur stumbled back in shock, just barely managing to avoid tripping over himself. “How is that even possible? How did you manage to figure out my Kiraino so well?”

 

Chika’s tone was dry. “Because I’ve been fighting it alone for the past ten minutes.” The other Cures blushed before rushing to help their friend, kicking and punching at the Kiraino.

 

Alana arched her hands into a heart shape, pulsing it outwards until the outline began to glow. “Pretty Cure! Sweetness Shower!”

 

Shion soon followed suit, clapping her hands wildly until they produced an orange ripple effect. “Pretty Cure! Laughter Burst!”

 

With the combined strength of their powers, they were able to crack the lens again, rendering the monster powerless before it completely broke down back into its shattered camera form, the pictures on the screen also returning to normal completely as Shion let out a sigh of relief and smiled.

 


	16. Alana's Plan! Operation: Let's Be Friends!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Worrying about Dark Desire and what she had said at their last confrontation, Alana comes up with a plan to become her friend.

As she sat thinking alone in her bedroom, Alana sighed and buried her face in her knees. So much had happened over the past month that it had been hard to take it all in, but one particular incident played out over and over. Dark Desire had spoken to them during their last confrontation, her words puzzling and haunting Alana even now. 

 

“ You wouldn’t care about who I am, anyway. You all left me once, who’s to say you won’t do it again?”

 

Concerned, Bobble floated over to her side, a fron even starting to form on his face in response to hers. “What’s wrong, Alana-bo? This isn’t like you at all, acting all depressed and gloomy-bo.”

 

“Bobble, I’ve been thinking about things and...why haven’t I just tried making friends with Dark Desire? Especially if she’s supposedly a normal girl just like me and all the others.”

 

“I’ll give you one reason right now: Because she has a heart of darkness and cannot be trusted until we purify her, if we ever do-bo. I know how much you want to try and make friends with everyone you see, but at this point she’s too far gone-bo.”

 

“You may think that way, Bobble, but I can’t help but think that maybe she turned to the Negative and got corrupted because she was lonely? She said we left her, but then said she had no friends.”

 

“Alana, you know how her judgement and her thoughts have all been clouded over by the darkness-bo. She’s probably very rude and impulsive, and I just don’t want you to get hurt-bo.”

 

“Oh come on, Bobble, since when have you ever been so against me making a new friend?” 

 

“It’s just that making friends with Desire would be a little...different.”

 

Despite Bobble’s protests, Alana began to smile, her heart set on her new goal more and more with every passing second. “I won’t know until I try! If it doesn’t work, well then I’ll understand a little better, and if it does, I’ll have a new friend!”

 

Finally giving in, Bobble sighed. “Well, I guess it would help out the Friendship Kingdom a lot.”

 

Alana pumped her fist in the air out of excitement, nearly sending Bobble flying backwards. “Alright! Operation Let’s Be Friends is a go!”

 

Not even a moment later, Bobble stopped her, confident that he would be able to shut down her plan in its tracks. “There’s only one problem with your plan, Alana.”

 

“Oh really? What?”

 

“You don’t know who Dark Desire is yet.”

 

Alana blushed. “Oh yeah, I guess that would be a pretty big issue.”

 

Like a message from the heavens, Alana’s phone suddenly buzzed with a text from Chika.

 

_ I’ve been meaning to tell you, I think I might know who Dark Desire is. _

 

Smiling at Bobble with confidence, Alana simply texted back a question mark and waited. Ten minutes went by without a response, then twenty, and then thirty until Alana finally shut off her phone in defeat. If Chika had wanted to talk to her, she would have responded by that point.  

\---

As the members of the Negative were watching Alana’s plan unfold, Douleur was beside himself with laughter, Dark Desire sitting beside him silently. “Sweet wants to make friends with you? Oh, that’s just rich! Don’t you think so, darling?” 

 

She sat still silently, before mumbling under her breath and clutching at her heart slightly. “I don’t want this...I shouldn’t want this.”

 

Hearing this, Douleur stroked her hair. “That’s right, you shouldn’t want to be friends with her or any of them, because they hurt you. You should stay here, safe with me, where everything is always taken care of for you and you won’t have to deal with any of those tricky emotions. Though, you’re even quieter today than usual. Can I get you anything, love?”

 

Seemingly ignoring Douleur, all she did was shake her head at them, quietly repeating what she had said before, grabbing at her heart with an even stronger grip than before. “I don’t want this...I shouldn’t want this.” Suddenly, a painful jolt ran up her spine and through the rest of her body, causing her to fall out of her chair and begin to squirm in agony, letting out painfully breathy screams and moans.

 

Out of both parts fear and rage, Douleur whipped his head around to see Enemie towering over her, his voice booming with rage. “Liar. I can feel it in your heart that you want to go back to the way things were. Do you want to know what we do to traitors, Desire?” Suddenly, even more pain spread through her whole body, though this lasted much longer and was much sharper than the last shock.

 

Although Douleur would follow his boss to the end of the Earth, Enemie was taking things much too far for his tastes; Even his evil has standards. “Sir! What are you doing to her, she’s simply a child!”

 

Enemie had his fingers at the ready, prepared to send identical pain into Douleur’s body. “Oh? Are you going to betray my orders too, Douleur, and end up like that little pet of yours? I established this team for one reason and one reason only; To end the Friendship Kingdom and rule over it’s remains as it’s new emperor. We cannot have members of our team showing weakness, and that includes the corrupted Pretty Cure. Now, I ask you again, are you going to betray my orders, Douleur?”

 

“No sir.”

 

Suddenly, Dark Desire’s pain stopped as she weakly moaned and rose back on her feat, pushing up on the arm of a nearby chair for support. “Enemie, S-s-sir…” 

 

“If you ever decide to develop feelings again, I will have to terminate your service to the Negative. Do I make myself clear, Dark Desire?

 

Dark Desire wanted to cry, although she knew she couldn’t, just narrowly holding back her tears. “Yes sir.”

\---

As both girls returned to school after the weekend, Alana was on the hunt to find Chika and ask her about her mysterious text. The hunt, luckily, did not take long, Chika standing by Alana’s locker. “Chika! You texted me about Dark Desire, but then you never texted back. So, what’s up?”

 

Chika blushed when she realized that her reply most likely didn’t send. “Sorry, Alana, I had to go to tennis practice, so my phone was off. Anyway, like I was saying, this is just a theory that I have, but I think Dark Desire might be Madoka.”

 

Alana immediately shook her head. “What? No way, Madoka’s way too nice to do anything evil, and she’s already our friend, so it’s not like we abandoned her.”

 

“Well, for one thing, I overheard her talking about how she’s thinking of quitting choir, and you and I both know that there has to be some form of dark magic involved to ever make her do that.”

 

Alana’s eyes went wide in shock, her volume immediately going from normal to almost yelling. “Madoka’s quitting choir?”

 

As Madoka heard her name she gave the two an odd smile, fervently denying her friend’s claims. “No no, that’s not true at all! I love choir just as much as always!” She giggled loudly before walking off.

 

After Madoka had passed them by, Chika took Alana aside, whispering in her ear. “Again, it’s just a rumor, but I can’t help but worry about her.”

 

“I can see why, she was acting really weird there. Speaking of Dark Desire, I think I have a plan. I've decided that I’m going to become her friend! And now that I know that it might be someone I already know, my friendship with them is already strong.”

 

“That sounds like a good plan on paper, but remember that I don't know if Madoka is actually Dark Desire or not, it’s just a hypothesis. Another thing, do you remember when we fought that heart Kiraino, the time when Kaede confessed her crush on Reika, and Dark Desire sang that song?”

 

“She did sound a lot like Madoka.”

 

“She sounded  _ exactly _ like Madoka.” Chika corrected.

 

“But how would Madoka get corrupted? She doesn't have anything to fall into despair about, does she?”

 

“That’s where my hypothesis starts to get weak.” Chika said. “Whoever it is, it would probably be better to find out sooner rather than later.”

\--

Like Chika, Alana spent whenever she could watching Madoka’s movements and the way she spoke, most of the time blending in, though sometimes falling to an eerie monotone voice.

 

As they usually did, the team of girls met up at lunch, Alana hunching down with her lunch posse at their favorite table to talk all about their latest Pretty Cure adventures. “Alright, so does anybody have anymore information on Madoka, or even have any ideas for Operation Let’s Be Friends?” 

 

The others shook their head, Kaede speaking up. “She seems pretty normal to me.”

 

“Alright then, on to strategy two: We're going to attempt to win her over with kindness!”

 

Although hesitant, Madoka eventually sat down at the lunch table, though on the other side from her friends. Alana waved to her, the group of girls all smiling widely. “Hey Madoka, come over here!”

 

Madoka looked at them with a blank expression. “Why?”

 

“Oh, no reason! We just wanted to talk to you. After all, we're all friends, and that’s what friends do with each other, right?” Madoka just barely hid her smile, hitting herself mentally. She couldn't show emotion, or who knows what Enemie might decide to do with her? However reluctantly, she joined them, sliding her lunch tray closer to the group. “So Madoka, why haven’t you been talking to us a lot lately? Does it have anything to do with dark magic?” Alana smiled while the others face palmed behind her.

 

“Alana, have you ever heard of the magic of subtlety? Because I don’t think you have.” Shion snarked, earning a thumbs-up in agreement from Kaede and Chika.  

Suddenly, Madoka’s eyes went wide, although she was quickly able to get back down to her normal composure before anyone had noticed. “What would you want to know about dark magic? I mean, I am pretty interested in the supernatural, but I don’t think there’s ever been any dark magic involved with what I tend to research. I’m only looking for ways to improve my singing voice, if you can call that magic.”

 

“Alright, do you know anybody named Douleur, then?”

 

“Hmm...that’s French, right? Although I can’t say I’ve ever heard of anybody with a name like that before. Now Madoka had gone from telling partial truths to lying through her teeth, although if she was playing her cards right than no one could tell the difference.

 

As both their lunch period and Alana’s impromptu game of twenty questions came to an end, Alana wanted to sigh, but still kept up a smile for Madoka’s sake. “It was nice to talking to you, Madoka!”

 

“You too, Alana.” Madoka faked a smile in return, though it faded as soon as she walked out of the cafeteria. Again, she mentally derided herself. If she didn’t want Enemie to hurt her again, then she had to hide her emotions.

 

\---

By the end of the day, there was a downpour, students running every which way and covering themselves with their jackets and backpacks.

 

Upon seeing her friend attempting to sprint through the storm without anything covering her curly brown hair, Alana ran to catch up with her, holding out her bright pink umbrella for the two of them to get under. “Madoka! Here, you can walk under my umbrella with me.” 

 

As they talked to each other to occupy the space of the heavy noise of the storm, Madoka looked away as she blushed heavily, the feelings of infatuation that she once had for Alana returning in full force. 

 

Realizing the feelings she was suddenly developing again, she sprinted ahead, making up a fake excuse about her bus having already arrived as to not draw any attention to herself.   

 

Suddenly, Alana noticed a bright pink charm floating in a puddle beside her now soaked shoes. Quickly realizing what it was, she put it on her Bond Bracelet and smiled. Maybe, just maybe, Operation Let’s Be Friends had turned out to be a success after all.    


	17. Let's Dance! Dark Desire's Admiration!

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Everyone is excited for the Holiday Formal, full of glamour, fun and friends. But when Dark Desire casts a spell on Alana, can he rest of the Cures save her and the rest of the school before it's too late?

The hallways of South Ridge Middle School were filled with both school spirit and holiday cheer, groups of friends chattering amongst themselves as the final bell rang, dismissing them for the day. The Holiday Formal was that night, and many students had been looking forward to it since the beginning of the school year. It was a chance to get dressed up, let loose, and hang out with friends who you might not see everyday, and for most students, that was a dream come true.

 

Madoka, on the other hand, was dreading the event. Her mother had set her up to go with her underclassman friend Miyabi from a few houses down the street, a bunch of her friends coming along with her as well. Despite the year’s age difference between them, the two of them had been close for years, the friends that Miyabi had eventually becoming mutual between the two of them. 

 

Douleur’s voice came to her mind, invading her thoughts. “Madoka, darling, if it’s bothering you so much, then I think you should just cancel. Not having to bother with finding a dress and shoes seems so much easier, don’t you think?”

 

“Douleur, I already paid for the ticket, so not going is off the table. Now, I actually want to try and have a good time at the formal, so please don’t bother me, okay?”

 

Her attitude made Douleur’s do a 180, his voice growling deeply as he glared so hard she swore she could feel his eyes glow. “You dare disrespect me, you foolish little girl? I have done nothing but respect you and care for you, and it’s not as if you have anyone else to turn too...Your father is right, you really are a disrespectful little spoiled brat. You don’t matter, and your pathetic feelings don’t matter. Do I make myself clear, Madoka?”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

Within another moment, Douleur had gone completely back to his normal self, Madoka swearing that she could almost feel his hand stroking her hair and calming the sadness inside of her. “That’s better. Now don’t make me talk to you like that again, darling.”

 

“Yes, sir.”

 

As he left her mind once again, she sighed, resisting the urge to bury her head in her hands. Her feelings of dread had returned, this time in full force. Clenching her fists in determination, she did her best to bury them; This night was going to be hers, and she was not going to let anyone ruin it for her, whether they were another human being or a magical dark demon from another dimension.

 

As soon as she got home that afternoon, she let her hair fall into its natural ringlets, the curls bouncing down her back whenever she walked. Her mother had helped her apply just the right amount of makeup to help her regain her confidence for the night, her face glowing with a pink blush. She was helped into her new dress for the occasion, a black and white dress which was speckled with several jewels on the top. Her shiny black shoes and white rose corsage were the final touches for transforming her into a real-life Cinderella.

 

When she finally looked at her fully made over self in the bathroom mirror, she nearly gasped, reaching out to hug both of her parents in sheer joy. “I can’t believe it! I don’t think I’ve ever felt this beautiful in my life!”

 

Her parents smiled, her father chuckling as they walked her to Miyabi’s house. “We’re so proud of you for working to get of this funk of yours. Now go on and party with your friends!”

\---

When they had returned to the school for the evening, the school was abuzz with people waiting outside it’s doors, Madoka’s eyes immediately lighting up when she saw Kaede among the crowd.

 

Kaede was wearing a sparkling teal dress that matched her bright blue eyes, her makeup also being perfect for the occasion. Reika’s dress was similar, instead being a dusty purple color. As they both noticed her at the same time, they smiled at their mutual friend. “Madoka! You look so pretty!”

 

She blushed, returning the compliment. “Thanks, you girls do too!”

 

A few minutes later the doors were opened, students rushing to get a good place in line. As Kaede, Reika, and Madoka all stood and talked to each other, they were surprised by Chika’s arrival, and soon their group of three became four. 

 

“Does anybody know if Alana’s here yet?” Suddenly, Madoka felt a tap on her shoulder, and when she turned around she gasped in awe. Alana’s dress was black, decorated with a pattern of several large pink roses, her hair done up and her lips coated with a bold red color.

 

Kaede whispered in Madoka’s ear, a smile tracing her lips. “You should tell her.”

 

Madoka shook her head a little, a small frown overtaking her smile. “Kaede, I already know she doesn’t feel the same way.”

 

Still, Kaede could sense the obvious feelings, egging her on. “Come on, I think you should at least still try.”

 

“Who’s to say I haven’t?”

 

“Tell me what?” Alana interjected and walked over into their conversation, making Madoka’s heart pound faster and faster with every closer step.

 

“It’s nothing, Alana! I just think you look really pretty tonight, is all.” Madoka stammered, laughing nervously. She had to conceal her feelings and keep them down as much as possible.

That was the case, until she thought up a plan and smiled to herself, looking down at the jeweled necklace she had chosen to wear that night. 

“Aww, thanks! You look great too!” The girls walked into the gymnasium where the dance floor was set up, bright strobe lights pulsing around the room and loud rap remixes of holiday tunes blaring from the stage so loud that Madoka could feel the bass in her chest.

 

Within an instant, Alana and her large group of friends had disappeared into the growing crowd, leaving Kaede and Madoka to bob up and down to the music. Truth be told, Madoka had never cared for rap, but she tried to enjoy herself anyway, and smiled as she saw Kaede having a good time. As every song started and ended, Madoka glanced over at Alana, who seemed to have a semi-frown stuck on her lips. Yet every single time Madoka thought she was close to talking to her, she would disappear into the crowd of students again, much to Madoka’s dismay.

 

Everytime she tried to smile at Alana, she was ignored, Alana’s expression unchanging. She kept telling herself that it was okay, but as the incidents piled up, she could no longer deny the heartache that she was feeling, which was painfully familiar for her. This time, however, things would be different.

 

* * *

 

As Madoka walked into the bathroom to take a breather away from the music hurting her heart, her eyes lit up when she saw Alana checking and double checking her makeup in one of the mirrors, Bobble out and flowing freely next to her. There was a look of panic on the alien’s face as she entered the bathroom. “Alana, are you okay-bo? I’ve seen you dancing, but you never looked happy. Is everything alright-bo?”

 

She sighed, lying through her teeth.“Yeah, Bobble, I’m just really tired. I just can’t shake the feeling that something will go wrong tonight.”   

 

“I’m sure everything will be fine. Everybody seems to be having a great time, I can’t sense any negative energy anywhere-bo!”

 

Madoka smirked at that sentiment, prepping her voice as she walked closer to her friend. Her words came as smooth and as silk, her gaze captivating her friend in an instant. “You know, nothing will go wrong tonight if you stick with me. But you have to trust me, alright?” Madoka’s eyes glowed a vivid purple, luring Alana into a hypnotic trance.

 

Her eyes lightless, she responded in an eerie monotone voice. “Yes. I trust you completely.” 

 

“Alana, snap out of it! It’s a trick-bo!”

 

Madoka quietly scolded him and swatted him away up against the walls, careful not to be so loud as to break the trance. “Quiet, you!”

 

Refocused, Madoka smiled at Alana’s words, gently taking her hand. “Now, where were we, darling? You shall adore me with all of your heart.”

 

Though she was still in her trance, a large smile came across her ruby red lips, her irises practically turning into large hearts. “I adore you.” 

 

“You shall follow all of my commands.”

 

“I shall follow all of your commands.” Alana repeated back to her. Satisfied with her work, Madoka ended the trance and smiled at Alana, both pairs of eyes losing their mysterious magical glow.

 

“Feeling better?”

 

For the first time that night, Alana smiled. “Actually, yeah! I’m not sure what happened, but I feel so refreshed! Also, has anybody told you how amazing you look tonight? I can’t believe I didn’t see it before but wow, you look great!”

 

Madoka giggled innocently. “Thank you!” Though it wasn’t what she first intended for the night to be, she was still enjoying herself. She liked having the upper hand, especially if it was against the Pretty Cure, and especially if it was Cure Sweet.

 

In a panic, Bobble flew into the auditorium, and began a frantic search for Kaede or any of the other Pretty Cure he managed to find along the way, being extremely careful not to expose himself to any potentially curious civilians. Being ignored among all of the ruckus was both a blessing and a curse, as he was gently bobbed across a wave of hands until he finally found who he was looking for. 

 

“Kaede!” His voice was made small against the booming music, Kaede still dancing with Reika without a care in the world. “Kaede!” He tried to call out for her again, to no avail. Sighing, he shrunk down and connected to her Bond Bracelet, signaling her out for his telekinesis.

 

“Kaede, I need your help! You’re the only one I can find, and I have no time to find anyone else! Alana’s in trouble. Dark Desire has her hypnotized!”

 

“Where are they, do you know?”

 

“The bathroom, last time I checked.”

 

In a panic, words began to spill out of Kaede’s mouth, leaving Reika confused. “Reika, I need to go to the bathroom real quick see you later okay thanks bye!”

 

Kaede rushed to the bathroom, concerned but not surprised to see them just leaving, walking arm-in-arm with each other. “Kaede, isn’t Madoka just the most amazing person ever? I mean she’s beautiful, nice, and amazingly perfect at absolutely everything?”

 

“Aww, you're just too sweet.”

 

This hypnotism clearly had been the work of The Negative, and, despite her shortcomings in math, she could easily put two and two together, though she didn’t want to believe herself when she found her result. 

 

“Madoka, why did you do this? You know that this kind of love isn’t right!”

 

Madoka smirked. “Yes, yes, I know. But it’s so tiring, being cast aside all the time while all of you seem to be making more and more friends and leaving me in the dust. So, obviously, when I saw my chance to cast a little magic, I took it.” 

“What did you do to Alana?”

 

“Oh, just a little hypnosis is all. I could easily break the spell, if I wanted too. All that I’ve ever wanted was adoration and respect, and now I finally have my dream come true!” She giggled, Alana happily following her into the auditorium like a puppy following its owner.

* * *

As the night went on and Alana and Madoka continued to dance, the dark magic spread, Kaede and soon Chika and Shion noticing the changes in their friends and classmates, all of them flocking towards Madoka like a herd of sheep.

 

“Madoka, you’re so amazing!”

 

“You’re the most perfect person I know!”

 

“You’re the queen of my heart, Madoka!”

 

Luckily for Kaede, she quickly got a hold of Chika, who was now certain of her hypothesis in her head, her self-pride for her accomplishment overshadowed by her concern for the other students. Shion caught up to Kaede and Chika soon after, more confused than anything. “Ok, explain to me why everyone has turned into Madoka fan-zombies?”

 

“Well, first off, we should all know Madoka is Dark Desire now. She used dark magic on Alana, which has somehow spread to everyone else in the school, and we need to find a way to stop her.”

 

Soon, the DJ had helped Madoka up to the stage, where she grabbed a microphone and began to sing a song, attracting everyone’s absolute attention. 

 

“We need to stop her, now could be our only chance!” The girls rushed up to the stage, Kaede looking her in the eyes with a slight glare. Defensively, Dark Desire transformed and summoned a Kiraino from two large speakers on each side of the stage, which came together to form one monster. The room around them went dark and Madoka's adoring crowd froze in place.

 

“How dare you try and take this away from me! It’s mine! Mine, mine mine!” She stomped her feet like a child and sang a song of rage. Her eyes glowed a bright crimson color, and she began attacking them with vivid purple fireballs, countering their magic of lightning, time and emotion.

 

“Kiraino, let your music play!” Suddenly, the giant speaker erupted with bass, making the ground rise up and creating a wind so strong that it blew the Pretty Cure off of their feet, Madoka cackling as it did so.

 

Kaede quickly stood back up, a bolt of lightning streaking out from her fingertips as she did so. “I won’t let you or your monster win! I won’t let your heart get taken over by the darkness! Now come at me!”

 

Suddenly, Madoka’s eyes began to flash, her confidence severely wavering as she yawned and stretched, her voice returning to normal as she broke the spell she had cast on Alana and the other students. “Oh my, it looks like it’s past my curfew. Goodnight, everyone.” She disappeared through a purple portal as the gymnasium went back to normal, the three Pretty Cures giving each other glances.

 

Alana held onto her head as she wobbled over to her group of friends, her legs still uncoordinated. “Ugh, what happened? Why does everything hurt so bad?”

 

Kaede smiled at her, assisting her balance with her free arm. “Well, it’s a long story. Did you know that Dark Desire is actually--”

 

Chika and Shion each clamped a hand over her mouth. “Kaede, no. Just...Kaede, no.”

 

“Why not? I think Alana deserves to know.”

 

Bobble spoke under his breath. “We must agree to never tell her-bo. If she finds out, she finds out, but not today-bo.” 


	18. A Tennis Racket! The Pursuit of Perfection?

Despite the chilly winter wind, Chika stood at the ready with a confident smile, her bright yellow tennis racket in hand. With the flick of her wrist, the light green ball shot back across the court, scattered amongst the others she’d used for practice during her session. Smiling at her efforts, she reloaded the tennis balls into the practice machine and put her racket back in its proper place before heading back inside the school to start her day, panting for breath but fully satisfied with herself.

 

In the distance, Madoka was looking in on her former friend’s practice session without making a sound, smiling to herself as a plan began to form in her mind, immediately teleporting back to The Negative’s manor to make a report to Enemie. Though, with the thoughts she’d been having over the days before, this was certain to be a rather special report. 

 

\---

As Dark Desire appeared in the Negative’s dreary and dilapidated manor, Douleur smiled at her slightly, only for his efforts to be ignored.  “Desire, darling, may I ask what’s gotten into you? You typically never ignore me like this, and even I’m starting to worry for you slightly.” Douleur then bit his lip, having partially lied. His worry for her was overtaking him, and he didn’t know what to make of that. 

 

Dark Desire scoffed at Douluer’s claims. “Well, I ignore you now. It’s simple really; In order to be the most adored, you have to be the most powerful. And the powerful don’t need friends. The powerful don’t want friends, because the powerful don’t have to share control if they’re alone. Therefore, I fully intend to take control over the Negative myself.”

 

Douluer stepped back in shock. “Desire, darling, I don’t think that’s a very good--”

 

It was his doubt of her that finally caused her to snap back. 

 

“Silence!” She bellowed, her eyes aglow bright purple with fury, the fists she was making at him engulfed in a similarly colored flame.

 

Enemie’s large shadow came from around the corner. “What chaos is unfolding in here?” Without saying another word, Dark Desire struck him with her flaming fists, the sheer heat and rage causing his shadow to dissipate instantly.

 

Dark Desire smirked as Enemie’s robe collapsed to the ground, his shadow-like body disappearing into nothing. “Now begins a new era! I am the queen of all despair! I am Dark Desire!” She cackled as the violet fire roared beneath her feet. 

 

Douleur’s face dropped at the unfolding chaos, causing him to say something he’d thought he’d never say.

 

“I have to get help.”  

\---

 

That morning, when Madoka and Chika encountered each other in the halls while switching classes, Madoka raced to talk to her. She could hardly stand even talking to the Pretty Cure anymore, but it was what had to be to put her plan into action. As Chika saw her out of the corner of her eye, she faked a smile.“Hey Chika, I saw you practicing your tennis this morning. You seem to be really good at it!”

 

Of course, knowing who she was when magic was involved, Chika remained wary of her. “Oh, you did? That’s nice, Madoka.”

 

“But, like everything, there’s always room for improvement.”

 

Chika faked a smile. “That’s true! I’ve been playing tennis since elementary school, and I’m not perfect at it by any means.”  

 

“Well, lucky for you, I have a practically foolproof plan to become perfect at anything you want! You’ll go through practice so fast that you won’t even notice you're doing it.”

 

Simply intending to investigate Dark Desire’s powers, Chika stopped herself from walking any further. “I’m interested.”

 

“All right, but this requires your full concentration to work.” Sensing that she had Chika’s full interest, Madoka began by preparing her voice, and as she spoke, her words began flowing smoother than silk, her eyes glowing with a deep violet aura, Chika’s going completely still. “You are going to trust me with everything you have.”

 

Although she had fully intended to, before she knew it, Chika couldn’t bring herself to look away, as if though she were a moth nearing a flame. “I trust you completely.”

 

“You are going to obey all of my commands.”

 

“I will happily obey all of your commands.”

 

“Good, very good. You will aspire to reach perfection, and will not stop until you reach it. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Yes.”

 

Removing her hand from Chika’s shoulder, Madoka waited for the hypnosis to settle in, smiling when it did. 

 

Chika blinked, looking around at her surroundings, then gasped in shock. “Oh my gosh! What am I doing, I have to keep practicing tennis! I’m not good enough!” She raced out of the hallway, leaving Madoka standing there and smirking to herself. She was definitely going to enjoy this.

 

A few hours later, having gotten through half of their classes for the day, most of the girls along with their other classmates were now all sitting down to enjoy lunch. Alana spoke first, a worried expression in her eyes. “Hey, has anybody seen Chika today? I could’ve sworn she was here his morning, but it feels like she just disappeared.”

 

“Maybe she’d be out on the tennis court?”

 

“Madoka, why would she be on the tennis court? It’s still January, and I’m pretty sure tennis is a spring sport.”

 

“Well, it’s never too early to start practicing! And you know Chika, always practicing to be perfect at things.”

 

“Yeah, I guess that explains it. Thanks, Madoka!”

 

“Always happy to help!” She smiled and continued eating her lunch.

 

“Hey! Why don’t we pick up Chika some lunch and we can bring it to her if she’s out there?” Though she was completely unopposed to bringing her best friend lunch, she also had to wonder what on earth would drive her to spend all day on the tennis court, and she bet that dark magic wouldn’t be that hard to trace as the cause. 

After picking up a small lunch for her from the school’s kitchen, the girls walked out to see Chika on the tennis court, though they were all shocked to see that Chika was running herself ragged as she viciously swung her racket back and forth at each and every tennis ball that was erratically flying her way. 

 

After a moment, although she was nervous, Alana finally piped up. “Chika...are you okay?”

 

“No, I have to be perfect!” She screamed back to them at the top of her lungs, not even glancing at her friends as she continued to hit the tennis balls back and forth.

 

Knowing that her best friend wouldn’t stop until she was physically forced to, Kaede dashed in front of her and let the two of them collide with each other, ignoring the sudden pain she felt and instead opting to have a conversation with her friend. “Chika, you don’t have to be perfect, you know that.”

 

“Yes I do!” All of her friends were caught off guard when she suddenly broke down and burst into tears, Kaede giving her best attempt at calming her best friend down.

 

Shion, who was still watching from the sidelines, cocked an eyebrow, wanting to know more about this mysterious panic attack. “And who told you that you had to be perfect, Chika?”

 

Chika hiccuped. “Madoka did.”

 

“And you listened to her why exactly?” Shion said sarcastically, the message luckily going right over Alana’s head.

 

Chika sniffled again before finally coming back to her senses. “Because she told me to! I really tried not too, but she’s just so powerful that I--”

 

“Hold on. What do you mean Madoka’s powerful?” Alana gasped. “Is she the missing Pretty Cure? But wait, that makes no sense, why would Madoka just turn evil all of a sudden?” Soon, Alana was lost on a new train of thought.

 

The girls simply stared at her until Chika came up with a reasonable excuse. “Umm, well... she’s been studying hypnosis online, and has been testing it out on us! She’s getting really good at it too, right girls?” Kaede and Shion nodded.

 

“But why would Madoka hypnotize Chika to be obsessed with tennis?”

 

“Well, you know what they say, hypnosis has to be specific to work! And I’[m sure Madoka didn’t actually mean to take it this far, maybe she messed something up when she was first getting to Chika into her trance?”

 

Alana was relieved by this explanation. “Oh, well that explains it then. I guess it was all just one big misunderstanding.” Alana began to laugh, until the sky went dark, the trees and field around them beginning to go colorless and frozen.

 

One of the tennis balls on the field remained green, though it grew to a gargantuan height, only finishing when it was taller than the school building itself. Suddenly, a bright white portal opened behind the Kiraino, both Queen Harmonia and Douleur rushing out of it in a panic. While Queen Harmonia launched a bright light from her scepter, Douleur fighting down the monster with his bare hands, the teamwork that the two of them showed quickly taking it down while the Pretty Cure watched in awe.

 

Bobble, who was shocked at seeing his queen in such distress, flew out of Alana’s bag to meet her. “Queen Harmonia! What’s going on-bo! And why do you have him with you-bo? Did he curse you in any way-bo?”

 

“There’s no time to explain, we have to work quickly! It’s for the sake of the entire Friendship Kingdom, and...for the friendships of the world themselves.”


	19. The Final Battle! The Light of Friends, Pretty Cure!

Teleporting the group there in a rush, the Cures, their queen and Douleur soon found themselves standing at the edge of Winter’s Forest. “I’ve put up a barrier of light to keep us safe from the forest’s corruption. Still, the darkness around this area is strong, so I’m not sure how long I’ll be able to keep it stable.”

 

“I’ll help you, Queen Harmonia! I can do the same thing too-bo!” Bobble attempted to make the barrier larger, although he could only form a small bubble barrier around himself. 

 

Despite the intensity of the situation, Queen Harmonia couldn’t help but giggle a little at her ambassador’s efforts to help. “I’ll let you know when I need your assistance, Bobble.”

 

“Queen Harmonia, what’s going on?”

 

“Dark Desire has taken in unprecedented levels of despair. When Douleur had told me that she had taken complete control of the Negative, that’s when I knew that I needed to meet with you girls right away. Now, give me your Bond Bracelets, if you may.”

 

Complying with her request, all four of the girls took off their bracelets, handing them to her. With a single touch from Queen Harmonia’s hand, the bracelets began to glow with a pure white light, the various Memory Charms, melding into their bracelets and making them more jewel like. When the transformation was complete, the bracelets were more jeweled and metallic, shining underneath Queen Harmonia’s natural light. “There. This upgrade will let you perform the ultimate attack, the one we need to purify Dark Desire: Friendship Crescendo.”  

 

As the girls continued to walk in a clump together, they remained unphased by the darkness of the forest, laughing and joking with each other to keep their spirits high as they wandered through the freezing cold of the wasteland. Even Douleur began to come around to the light of the Pretty Cure, though he insisted that he simply didn’t want Dark Desire to be lost for good. Still, there was an undeniable feeling of warmth in his chest. He knew it was considered happiness, though he tried his hardest to deny his wrongdoing in having Madoka deprived of this. 

 

The group eventually came upon a clearing, and in that clearing was the ruins of an old and abandoned manor, which had been burnt to the ground by tall purple flames, which roared and crackled as more and more of the manor was lost. Above the destruction, Dark Desire cackled, her lavender hair turning darker and darker as her body began to gain a bright red glow to it.

Queen Harmonia’s heart dropped as the scene before her spiraled deeper and deeper into chaos. “I’ve never seen that much despair gathered in one place before, and to see it all stored in the heart of one person...that’s just unthinkable.”

 

Seeing Douleur standing with the other girls, she rushed over to him, almost appearing hyper. “Are you proud of me now, Master? Look at how much beautiful despair I’ve created!”

 

For the first time in his life, it was Douleur who drew back in fear. “Dark Desire, please don’t call me master. I’m not your master.” 

 

Dark Desire’s voice went eerily quiet, sending a chill up everyone else's spines. “But you are, don’t you remember?  _ You  _ did this to me.”

\---

Dark Desire smirked as she looked at the party of girls Douleur had gathered. “Ah, so you’ve found me, Pretty Cure. I’ve been looking forward to seeing you.”

 

“Dark Desire, you need to stop this! We all know that this isn’t the real you!”

 

“Oh, so now you care?” Dark Desire’s voice became distorted as the forest around them changed into a world of purple smoke and flames.

 

Hand in hand, the girls charged at her with all their might, launching attack after attack to no avail, Dark Desire deflecting or burning each one with her growing shield of violet flames. 

 

“It’s useless you know. Everything, all of the so-called love in the world, is pointless. Love of power causes war. Love of objects causes greed. Yet, if we all meet in despair, we could all live in happiness.” 

 

Cure Courage attempted to shock her, blue lightning bolts streaking from her hands as she spoke. “That’s not true! I know the real you would never say that, because the real you, when your heart was filled with light, you could find the beauty in anything!”

 

“Oh? And who is this real me you speak of? Whoever she may have been, she no longer exists.” With a snap of Dark Desire’s fingers, a large purple fireball engulfed Kaede, sending her crashing backwards. Seeing this, the other girls attempted to cover for her only to meet the same fate in the end until Cure Sweet was the last one standing.

 

“Dark Desire! Don’t you know that this isn’t the way to live? Why go through life living in despair, when you can open your heart and see the beauty in it. I’m so sorry that you’ve been hurt so badly the way you have, but it’s not too late for you. Everyone deserves friends...you can be our friend!”

 

As her mind began to unravel even further, Dark Desire began to laugh. “Nonsense. I am power, I am beauty, I am despair, I AM THE QUEEN!” Suddenly, all of Alana’s field of vision was engulfed by the same purple flames, and all she could hear was Dark Desire’s muffled siren song.

 

Despite all of the pain that was soaking through her bones, her body aching and begging her to give in, Cure Sweet still attempted to speak. “Dark Desire...please hear me out. The world is beautiful when it is filled with love. But it will only become ugly if you choose to view it that way. But hear this; The light of friendship makes everything more beautiful. The light of friendship is the most beautiful thing of all, if you will only see it!”

 

Hearing her speech of friendship and determination, the other Pretty Cure joined hands and returned to battle. All together, the girls raised their hands into the air, holding them together, a bright multi-colored arch went raising high into the air. “Pretty Cure! Friendship Crescendo!”

 

\---

The streams of a bright light washed over her, and that was all she could remember before feeling a wave of lightheadedness pin down her torso, a broad ache centering her forehead. Where had she been, and why was it so cold all of a sudden? Worst of all, why was she so afraid? She opened her eyes, and the landscape which had been a murky black shadow land before was now pure white, almost having a faint glow to it.

 

“Desire? Madoka? Are you alright?”

 

Madoka recognized the woman who was calling out to her, but only from her dreams. Could she have been dreaming? No, she couldn't be; The throbbing aches and pains felt too vivid for this to be her imagination, and she could feel cold tears dribbling down the side of her face; This was reality. She wanted to respond, wanted to cover up how she really felt and say that she was fine, but, truth be told, she was lucky that she even had the energy to think, even if the process was blurry, and even if she could only splutter out two word sentences at a time. 

 

“I’m sorry.”

 

“Don’t be, Madoka. You didn’t have a choice; You were forced to be here, but we’re here to save you now.” Queen Harmonia stroked Desire’s cheek gently, Desire almost wanting to flinch because of all the times Douleur had done the same. “I should be the one apologizing to you; I should’ve protected you when I felt the darkness coming, but instead I left you alone because I was selfish and only focused on what I was doing. Please, Desire, I need you to come back with me. Can I take you back, Desire?” Queen Harmonia extended her hand with a gentle smile, though Desire hesitated. 

 

“I don’t know...Everyone else told me that I shouldn’t go with strangers, but…”

 

Queen Harmonia reached out to her, putting a motherly hand on her shoulder. “I’m not a stranger, Desire. You need to trust me when I say this; You are the missing Pretty Cure. Everybody you fought was trying to save you. The Negative were the ones hurting you. They held you back and then drained your strength so they could use you.”

 

Desire looked up at her, almost seeming offended, and that’s exactly what Queen Harmonia was afraid of. “That’s not true! There’s no way they would’ve hurt me! All they did was save me!”

 

Queen Harmonia sighed sadly. She wished it never had to come to this, but it was the only chance she had to convince Desire of the truth. The illusion she had created with her magic was an exact replica, the words being taken straight from Douleur’s mouth. Still, she sat silently with Desire, who was questioning what the purpose was.

 

“The plan with Desire... Tell me, Douleur, is it going well?”

 

“Yes sir, though I must ask, must I really lie to her? I think that would just be too cruel considering what we’ve already done.”

 

“What we've already done isn’t enough; We’ve taken her here, but she needs to be broken. We must crush all of her hope. She has been selected to become a Pretty Cure, after all.”

 

“Well then, I have another suggestion, sir; A little birdie told me that her greatest wish is to be loved and protected. So, I will pretend to do so to gain her trust, and she will be completely under my control. Any threats that this plan may have for us will be completely eliminated.”

 

“Yes, I like that. Excellent. You may proceed as you planned, Douleur.”

 

“Thank you, sir.” Douleur bowed to his leader, and the illusion ended. 

 

Desire was perfectly still in shock as she hugged her knees and let the tears stream down her face. “They couldn’t lie to me, they would never do that...I trusted them. Douleur was always there for me, even when the Pretty Cure weren’t.”

 

“I know, I know-”

 

Suddenly, Madoka began to scream, balling her fists.“No, you don’t know! And you never will! I’m tired of being ignored all the time, and when people talk do talk to me...it’s always out of pity.”  

 

“If you follow me, it won’t be. These girls love and care about you, and they’re going to be so happy to make a new friend.” 

 

For the first time since she could remember, Desire’s eyes lit up, a large and childlike smile appearing across her face. “Really?”

 

Queen Harmonia nodded, and returned her smile. “They’ve been looking forward to meeting you for such a long time.”

\--

As the two appeared on Earth once more, the others meeting them in a safer place on the outskirts of the forest, it was clear that Queen Harmonia had a huge burden lifted off of her shoulders. “Girls? There’s someone I’d like you to meet.”

 

Cure Sweet’s eyes lit up, knowing exactly who the queen was referring to. “Did we do it? Did we save her?” 

 

Queen Harmonia smiled and nodded, motioning to a girl dressed in a bright purple outfit that was similar to the Cures’ own uniform. “Girls, this is Cure Desire.”

 

“Hi! I’m Cure Sweet! It’s nice to meet you!”

 

As she reached her hand out for a handshake, Desire began to feel dizzy and weak, toppling to the ground and struggling to breathe as she was forced to reveal her un-transformed self. Alana’s eyes widened in shock, the others watching her reaction carefully.

 

“I can’t believe it, Madoka...But then, if you really are Madoka...then how did you get corrupted?” The entire rest of the group stared at the two of them, and, as she rose back to her feet with Kaede’s help, she felt the shame tingle and rise up her whole body. There was no way she could explain this without making herself out to be the villain, but she supposed that she deserved it.

 

She didn’t mean to make herself feel this way, but she was soon enraged. “I came to the Negative because I was jealous of you, okay?” She pointed a finger at Alana. “I was sick and tired of you being little miss perfect all the time!” 

 

Madoka quieted herself down, and felt heat rush to her cheeks as she hid her face with her sleeve. “You haven’t been through anything like I have. I was sick and tired of always being left alone. Even though they’d never even talk to me, all of our classmates already know about my autism or my stupid limp.  Then, right before school started, my Uncle Daichi died, and so that…” She hesitated, biting her lip. She hated for anyone to see her more vulnerable side, her friends especially. “I guess you could say that hit me pretty hard...I guess what happened with my District audition was the last straw, seeing you happy and smiling all the time after I’d gone through so much.”

 

“Oh my goodness...Madoka, you know you could’ve come to us, right? That’s what friends are for, after all.”

 

“I just didn’t want to be a burden.”

 

Alana clamped her hands down on Madoka’s shoulders. “Madoka. Listen to us. You could never be a burden, because you are an amazing friend and we’re so so sorry you had to go through all that just because you didn’t feel like it. Please forgive me.”

 

Madoka sighed. “I forgive you. It was my fault for letting my jealousy get the best of me. I really should’ve just told you how I was feeling.”

 

“Sometimes, that’s a lot harder than it sounds.”

 

Madoka chuckled. “Yeah, you’re telling me.”

 


	20. Epilogue

After classes had let out on a wet spring day, the choir students all piled into the auditorium, walking up and taking their places on the risers, the choir’s director taking his place at the front of the stage near his music stand.

 

“Alright everybody, thanks for being here on time, now let’s get into rehearsal.” They sang for an hour, Madoka’s heart fluttering with both nerves and excitement. After they had finished, a flurry of hands went up and voices called out. “What about the solos?” 

 

The choir director nodded, hearing them out. “Now, before we work on Ballad of the Fireflies, I have some announcements to make; The boys solo will go to Ayumu, the alto solo will go to Alana and the soprano solo will go to Madoka.”

 

Hearing the good news and the applause of the other students, Madoka unfurled from her panicked state, the sheer joy soon overtaking her as she broke out into a wide smile.   

\---

On the same wet spring day, later in the afternoon, Madoka approached the nearby gravestone with small tears in her eyes, kneeling down and touching the stone engraving of his name. “I’ve become stronger because of you. I’ve overcome so much.” Beginning to pull away, she stroked his name one last time, leaving a bouquet of purple flowers over his grave. “I miss you, Uncle Daichi.”

 

As suddenly as it had come, the rain stopped, the clouds clearing and leaving room for a brilliant rainbow to appear.

 

Madoka smiles.


End file.
